Saturday, August 15th, 2020,
9:00 AM - 4 PM
YLDP is hosting its first ever Virtual Debate Competition!
Goal: Raise $1000
March Madness of Debate
32 Teams will compete in a bracket style tournament like March Madness. Teams will be seeded randomly and will compete to the championship.
Topics for Middle and High School students:
“Gun Control, should we enact it?”
“Who is more at fault for the COVID outbreak: the states or the federal government?”
Topics for Elementary students:
“Should school uniforms be required”
“Should students be required to physically attend school in the fall?”
The students will debate the first topics for all the rounds except the final, while the final will consist of the second topic.
Raising Money For Charity
100% of the proceeds from this competition will to a New Jersey Non Profit dedicated to helping people get through the COVID pandemic.
Details & Questions
Most frequent questions and answers
Teams will have two participants each, with a max of 32 teams competing.
The competition will have 16 judges consisting of the Youth Leaders and Mentors at YLDP. They will judge based on the rubric created by our Youth Leaders. Click here to view the rubric.
Students ranging from 8-16 years old can register for the competition. Elementary school students will be placed in one bracket, while Middle and High School students will participate in a different bracket.
Each team will randomly assigned either the affirmative or negative side. The affirmative side will be for the topic, with the negative side arguing against the topic. Each team will need to come up with arguments backed up with factual evidence. One member of the affirmative team speaks first for 4-8 minutes, the one member of the negative speaks for 4-8 minutes, then the other affirmative speaks, and the other negative speaks. After the main speeches, each member of the team gets a 2-4 minute rebuttal.
There are two topics for Middle and High School students: “Gun Control, should we enact it?” & “Who is more at fault for the COVID outbreak: the states or the federal government?”
The two topics for Elementary students will be: “Should school uniforms be required” & “Should students be required to physically attend school in the fall?”
The students will debate the first topics for all the rounds except the final, while the final will consist of the second topic.
The first and second place teams in each bracket will be given a winners certificate. All teams will be given a participation certificate.
If there are any questions, feel free to email us at youthldp@yldp.org
