A BIG thank you to Reading Abbey Rotary Club for hosting and arranging the use of the Oakwood Centre in Woodley for the “Youth Speaks: A Debate” Thames Valley District 1090 Final on Thursday evening, 2nd March. The last couple of years have been difficult and arranging a national competition, near impossible.
I always find it very inspirational listening to our Youth Speaks competition and Thursday evening was no exception.
This year saw 12 teams come forward, requiring us to run the Intermediate and Senior teams concurrently to ensure all participants got home at a reasonable time. A nice problem to have. We may need to think of bringing Zone finals back again next year!
I was asked to be a timekeeper for the senior competition and so heard the Didcot Girls School team debate “The voting age should be lowered to 12 years old”. Chaired by Chloe Cormack with Becky Stacey proposing and Jesica Dubock opposing. Being a local councillor I listened with heightened interest and have to say that I’m all for it.
- Young people don’t understand politics… many older people don’t
- Young people will be pressured by their families and peers… many older people are
- Young people are not interested in politics… many older people aren’t
Many of the arguments used to say no could be counterbalanced and so YES, we should be inviting those of 12+ to vote IMHO and if the team would like to progress this suggestion further I’d be happy to help.
I didn’t hear the debate by the Intermediate winning team from Wellington College but knowing how well Trevelyan Middle School did in our heats, it must have been a very powerful debate.
Chaired by Millie MacLeod with Tom Miners proposing and Tom Holborn opposing, the debate was entitled “Social media and technology is ruining our friendships” with the main reason
- For: the lack of physical interaction stops the development of that special bond of friendship.
- and Against: the ability to contact and communicate with other people, can create new friends.
From what my son tells me it’s the release of dopamine in the brain that gets us rushing back for more and so perhaps we should see it as a drug and encourage minimal use? I’m a fine one to talk, constantly checking!
The teams are now on their way to the Cluster finals in Cambridge where they will take on 3 other teams. Win through on Saturday and they’ll be heading for the finals at Lawrence Sheriff School in Rugby on 23rd April 2023.
Good luck to our teams… bring those trophies home 😉
Thank you.
Jon Davey
Chair of Windsor & Eton Rotary Club Youth Committee
Youth Speaks: A Debate District 1090 Lead
