Year 6 Debating Club got stuck straight into our first topic of the term – cats vs dogs – based on recent news articles about dogs being trained to sniff out patients suffering from COVID-19.
Responding to the premise, ‘this house believes dogs are better than cats’, the girls researched and developed their arguments, with passionately-held views on both sides. Writing, editing and delivering their speeches, one team focused on the usefulness of dogs, weighing this against the possible dangers posed to the public; the opposing team considered the sheer beauty of felines, tackling the thorny issue of what ‘better’ might mean. Finally, the girls were ready to launch their first full debate of the year!
Well-argued thoughts sat alongside piercing rhetorical questions – ‘who has ever heard of cats who save lives?, ‘have cats ever been responsible for injuring anyone… or worse?’ – and a vibrant debate ensued. Both teams did extremely well in this first debate, with rebuttals and counter-arguments aplenty, but the ‘dogs’ team won through at last, by a nail-biting one vote!
Categories: Girls' Prep School