On Friday 24th February, I had the privilege of being a senior invigilator for the Frankly Speaking 2023 competition. Organised by the Benjamin Franklin House organisation, as well as the Daughters of the American Revolution (the DAR), and hosted at the US Embassy, the day was exciting and invigorating.
The Frankly Speaking Competition is an annual debate competition for Secondary School Students and Sixth Formers in London, with a “Junior” competition for Years 10-11 and a “Senior” competition for Sixth Formers. This year, the competing schools for the Junior debate included St Michael’s Catholic College, St. Cecilia’s, and, my own school, St Michael’s Catholic Grammar School; the senior competition included schools such as the London Academy of Excellence, The Forest Academy and the Central Foundation Boys School.
Each team was composed of a pair of pupils and each student spoke eloquently and delivered their arguments with articulate persuasion. The competing teams debated a range of motions such as “This House believes that there should be an age maximum for political leaders” and “This House believes that celebrities with large carbon footprints should be held more accountable” (which proved to be a popular excuse to bring up pop superstar, Taylor Swift). The competition was stiff and engaging as well as being stimulating to listen to.
For the Junior debates, the Grey Coat Hospital and St. Cecilia’s progressed to the finals and debated the motion of “This House believes that the rise in social media has directly resulted in the increasing dissemination of false information.”. Both teams argued their sides well and convincingly and by the end, the Grey Coat Hospital - who argued on side proposition - arose as a justified - but not inevitable - winner. The level of quality of debate was further reflected within the Senior final between Whitmore School and Eltham College who fought on either side of the motion, “This House believes that arts and heritage should not be targeted by protests of environmental movements”, an incredibly interesting and riveting motion in today’s current climate regarding environmentalism and climate change. The side opposition - argued by Whitmore School - were a deserving winner and made a well-justified case regarding people’s freedom of speech and the importance of drawing awareness to climate change due to humanity’s desperate need to bring attention to global warming.
All in all, the day was academically invigorating and I am grateful to the DAR and the Benjamin Franklin House organisation for allowing me to oversee this competition as it was refreshing to observe a debate competition from a different perspective - after all, what is debating if not observing from a different perspective?
