On Sunday the 4th of March six junior teams and two senior teams competed in the annual Central North Island Regional Debating Competition. This year saw the largest number of attendees from schools in the central districts in more than ten years. Schools from New Plymouth, Palmerston North and Whanganui all crammed into Whanganui Collegiate for the competition. Students debated topics such as: fining parents for a child’s low school attendance, banning professional and amateur sports that have a high rate of head injury, giving parents full access to their child’s social media accounts, and whether amnesty should be given to dictators who choose to step down from power.
After three fierce rounds of debating, and three consecutive victories, PNBHS was named as one of two schools who would soon battle it out for first place. The opposition was New Plymouth Boys’ High School. The motion would be that “this house would provide amnesty for dictators who choose to step down from power.” PNBHS was on the affirming side, and the team employed textbook strategies to convince the adjudicator of their position. Oliver Song, as first speaker, provided the New Plymouth side with a win condition that proved cumbersome. That being, “you must prove that your side of the house provides more benefit to the people in countries run by dictators”. Aside from criminal justice, New Plymouth were unable to provide the adjudicator with any real benefits to opposing the motion. Simon Ton, as second speaker, continued to reinforce the benefits of providing a system where dictatorships could be broken down, and replaced by democratic societies by allowing them amnesty in return for giving up power. During the negating second speech, Simon Ton provided a match-winning point of interest, presenting New Plymouth with the question, “how do you think people are going to feel as soon as the current dictator is replaced by another, instead of replaced by a democratic society?”. This point of interest was left unanswered by New Plymouth and provided a convincing case for PNBHS. Isaac Fox presented a world-class third-speaker speech that left no doubt in the adjudicator’s minds as to who the victor of this debate should be. This debate was a strong display of teamwork, and each member played a pivotal role in the victory.
Congratulations to all students who participated in this long and thrilling day. Four debates across ten hours is an incredible feat, with the best team winning. Oliver Song and Tyler Thompson have made selections for the regional team and will go on to represent the central districts at the national competition at parliament in May. We wish Oliver and Tyler all the best for the next stage of the competition.
