Difference between revisions of "Introduction to Circuit Debate"

Circuit Debate can certainly feel overwhelming when you are first introduced to it – there are many things one has to learn to compete at the highest levels. So perhaps before figuring out how to learn circuit debate, it is worth considering whether you would like to learn circuit debate. There are certainly many pros to circuit debate: you become exposed to a wide body of knowledge that many people never encounter in their lives, ranging from philosophical, critical, and policy perspectives, you get to meet new people from across the country that broadens your perspective and allows you to make lasting friendships, some people consider the activity itself fun, and of course, it might look good to put on one's resume. On the other hand, there are many cons associated with the activity: most people need to put in a lot of hours to become successful (potentially at least 8 hours a week during the week leading up to, but not including, the tournament) which can lead to burnout, it can difficult to balance debate, school, and social lives, the community can be seen as toxic and exclusionary for certain groups, and finally, if you lack an established school debate program, it can be difficult not only to obtain the body of knowledge necessary for debating but also to give tournaments permission you to compete. Ultimately, you should not make your decision to debate based on this short paragraph but should highly consider consulting with debaters currently in the community to give context to your personal situation. Virtually all debaters will be willing to tell you their own personal experiences, and a good place to start asking questions might be the Small School's Facebook debate group.