Greenhill debaters will participate in a public debate, a debate open for each school’s community to watch and experience, against The Hockaday School on Nov. 5. The event will be hosted at the Nancy A. Nasher and David J. Haemisegger Family Theater at The Hockaday School .
The debate will be centered on whether trading privacy for convenience has done more harm or good, according to Director of Debate Aaron Timmons.
“I do think this [topic] is pretty important in that we, for the sake of convenience, give up a lot of our privacy, but we don’t really think about it and don’t really understand the implications of that,” Timmons said.
Preparation for the debate began on Oct. 27, following an online debate tournament the previous weekend. Debaters are focused on studying the consequences of disclosing personal data, and the greater impact it has on society.
“We’ve talked a lot about privacy, what that means, why that’s important, why there are reconsiderations about what privacy has to mean in the society in which we live to even access,” Timmons said.
The debate will be held in a World Schools format, with juniors Arhaan Iyer, Marleigh Massoud, Cindy Chou, Tim Csallner and senior Carys Diamond working as a team.
According to Timmons, the World Schools format was chosen because it allows for more audience interaction and entertainment.
“It is more audience friendly than some of the other formats, and it’s more interactive,” Timmons said. And more interactive because in this format, as a person is speaking, the other side can interrupt them.”
Timmons says the public setting will challenge students to present their arguments in ways that are both persuasive and accessible to people unfamiliar with competitive debate. He hopes the experience will help students communicate ideas clearly while maintaining their audience’s attention.
“We have to alter how we debate to make sure we are accessible to other people,” Massoud said. “If we speak to fast, use jargon, or are too complicated, the public debate isn’t really helpful to the public anymore.”
Beyond the competition, Timmons also hopes that the debate will encourage students to engage with opposing viewpoints and navigate disagreement, as he feels we sometimes shy away from civil conflict.
“I don’t think that we’re training folks to navigate difference,” Timmons said. “And debate is one way which you have to do that because as much as we’re researching our side, we are researching theirs as well.”
The event will bring together members of both school communities, including alumni and other attendees.
“I have family, friends, and teachers coming to the debate,” Massoud said. “This is a way for them to get to see what something so important to me is like. We don’t have Friday nights lights or events for people to come to usually, but this is our opportunity for that.”
The debate will also hopefully showcase how highschoolers are actually navigating difference, and how they go about it, according to Timmons.
“I think it’ll be a good example of how high school students are doing tough things and navigating difficult conversations and not running away from them,” Timmons said.
