Voices echoed through the auditorium on Friday, March 6 as members of the speech and debate club walked from their folding tables to the podium at center stage, going back and forth about the pros and cons of a potential social media ban for kids under 18.
The event served as a way to bring up the potential harmful effects of social media during Haven’s digital awareness week, which happened from March 2 to March 6.
The week featured events like the debate and the ‘phone drop dash,’ a game where teachers timed how long students took to put their phones into organizers after the bell rang and submitted the times for a score. Guest speakers from Dragonfly Associates spoke to freshmen about screen time and mental health on Tuesday, and students completed a survey about digital wellness on Friday.
The debate also served as a way for speech and debate — a club that doesn’t typically get to perform in front of an audience of peers — to show Haven what they do.
“I think it’s good for people to figure out what speech and debate is like, and also [for them to] know that this isn’t the only type of activity that they can do, and there’s many others — which means they should come to practice,” senior team member Ted Dudley said.
The fact that the debate landed on National Speech and Debate Education Day amplified the meaning of the demonstration by educating new potential team members.
“I think a lot of people just kind of think speech and debate is just another nerdy interest, but I think especially with debating, it being something that we are familiar with is good,” junior team member Advaya Singh said. “It was a little nerve-wracking for me because a lot of my friends were there, but I think it’s cool to let everyone know.”
Not everything about the mock congressional debate was the same as a real one.
“In congressional debate, there’s a presiding officer, it’s a little more parliamentary — they call on speakers,” Singh said. “It’s a little more formal, but the questioning is a lot shorter and probably a little more aggressive than what you saw. I would say [today was] mostly accurate.”
The debate was moderated by speech and debate advisor Mr. Jeffrey Kahn, who used it as an opportunity to market speech and debate to a wider range of people.
Kahn, alongside members of the team, encouraged more students to get involved, while spreading important messages about the pros and cons of social media, especially for teenagers.
“I think it’s good to spread the activity. It’s definitely been enjoyable for me, so I hope it will be enjoyable for more people,” senior team member Vincent Zhu said.
