PUBLIC DEBATES

YOU SAY YOU WANT A RESOLUTION?
PUBLIC DEBATE & BENEFIT

"You Say You Want a Resolution" was Los Angeles Metropolitan Debate League’s year-end celebration, Public Debate, and fundraiser. It was held online Thursday, May 13, 6pm (PDT).

Our debate centered the year’s topic, Criminal Justice Reform, with top high school debaters, special guest speakers Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón and ACLU attorney Melanie Ochoa, in a dynamic virtual format for our community of fans and supporters.

LAMDL thanks our title sponsor, Munger Tolles & Olson LLP, and our event sponsors: Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP, Loeb & Loeb LLP, and Jenner & Block LLP.

FINANCIAL LITERACY
DEBATE SERIES

This year, LAMDL will host the 2021 Citibank Financial Literacy Debate Series online. This debate series, which is held annually in partnership with the Citi Foundation and the National Association for Urban Debate Leagues, focuses on a topic of personal finance and is an excellent opportunity for LAMDL students to develop their knowledge of key financial concepts. The topic up for debate this year will be “Resolved: When unable to afford college, students should choose to attend a community college for the first two years of college rather than taking on additional loan debt to attend a four-year college for those first two years."

A recent survey of US high school students found that nearly 40% of students failed to grasp basic financial concepts and had scores that placed them at the lowest levels of financial literacy. This has significant repercussions because research shows that people with lower financial literacy borrow more, accumulate less wealth, and pay more in fees for financial products. They more likely to have problems with excessive debt and are less likely to invest. They are less likely to know the terms of their debt. Thus the Financial Literacy Debate Series hopes to introduce relevant financial concepts to LAMDL students using competitive debate to ensure students achieve a deeper understanding of those concepts. Join us in February as a judge.

I RESOLVE:
LOS ANGELES

As all eyes focus on the Presidential Debates this fall Los Angeles high school debaters will be using the opportunity to differentiate those often-disappointing media contests with the transformative experience academic debate provides for thousands of students in Urban Debate Leagues across the country. I RESOLVE showcases the power of high school debate for a public audience while exploring some of the most pressing issues in our society through the perspective, voice and values of the next generation of leaders – high school debaters. I RESOLVE’s unique format highlights the power of high school debate for a public audience. Debaters will apply the superior advocacy, rhetoric and critical thinking skills they’ve developed through debate in this new public debate series. See more details about the event on our page here.

CELEBRATE DEBATE
SPEECH CONTEST

As a way to celebrate the work of our debaters in the 2019-2020 school year, LAMDL hosted “Resolved: Celebrate Debate,” an online video based speech contest.

Each submission consisted of a 5 minute original speech about (1) affirmative or negative argument students prepared for the 2019-20 school year’s resolution: “Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially reduce Direct Commercial Sales and/or Foreign Military Sales of arms from the United States.” All speeches were evaluated by a panel of judges, and top speeches were awarded prizes including an iPad and gift cards. You can watch the speech submissions on our YouTube channel here.

This event was a fun and rewarding experience for LAMDL debaters in this unprecedented time. This is was just the first event that we have hosted online and look forward to rolling out more. Your feedback and participation are always appreciated! If you have any ideas you’d like us to implement, feel free to reach out to our email: info@lamdl.org