The Nelson Mandela School team has won the debate against the Loreto College team, from Manchester, winners of the UK Competition 2016/17. Congratulations!
The 7th Debating Matters International Final in 2017 showcased the best debaters from the UK and Berlin 2016/2017: Loretto College team from Manchester, UK, headed by Fran Tattersall, against the Nelson Mandela School team from Berlin, headed by Nihal Adler at the Battle of Ideas event at one of the most glorious venues in London – The Barbican.
The organizers of this phenominal event were the Institute of Ideas together with the Barbican organizers. Thanks to them all for the hearty welcome, the fantastic organization of so many debates on current matters that really matter. It is incredible to see how many Brits are actually interested in spending their Saturdays and their Sundays at the Barbican. It is also important to mention here the caterers of the event that did a great job in keeping us well fed and happy.
Obviously, such a great event can only be beholden to the many people and organisations that support it with resources and funds.
A special thanks has to also be directed to Claire Fox, Geoff Kidder and Bernie Whelan for all of their help and support in making this possible for our team to participate in this event.
The Debate Teams were made up of Nichita Matei and Francesca Sellers from Loretto College and Julia Dannemann and Alec Dent from the Nelson Mandela School, Berlin.
The brilliant but tough Judges were Justine Brian, Director of Civtas Schools, Dr. Eliot Forster, CEO of Immunocore and Patric Hayes, Director of British Suppliers Association. The Chair was Nadia Butt, the Project Officer, Generating Genius, who did all she could to make every single member welcome.
The motion of the debate was:
“In a digital age we should not expect our online activities to remain private.”
Loretto College team was for the motion and Nelson Mandela School the team against the motion.
The debate was a tough one for both sides and both sides fought valiantly for their motions. After the results were conveyed by the judges who were relentless in both their critique and their praise indicating that our school team had one, Nichita, from Loretto College commented how exciting the debate had actually been as the teams had been well matched and very strong.
The opening speeches/position statements of our team against the motion are available for you to read at your leisure.
The end to the thrilling debate was the quote by George Orwell´s character, Will Smith, in his book “1984” that Julia Danneman chose to framework her arguments with pertaining to why it is important to defend our privacy:
“There was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment. How often, or on what system, the Thought Police plugged in on any individual wire was guesswork. It was even conceivable that they watched everybody all the time. but at any rate they could plug in your wire whenever they wanted to. You have to live - did live, from habit that became instinct - in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and, except in darkness, every movement scrutinized.”
Written by Nihal Adler
