Bullfighting: The 2015 debate.

At John I. Burton High School, students are offered three years of Spanish, which is taught by Mrs. Sherry Beauchamp. During the second year of Spanish, students are required to participate in a bullfighting debate. In this debate, there are two sides; those who are for bullfighting, and those who are against bullfighting. Mrs.Beauchamp decided to have this debate because she really wanted to start a debate club, but sadly she did not have time to run the club.

Mrs.Beauchamp divides the teams by listening to her student's opinions, and, in some cases, places a student on either side if the student is absent. Each team has a leader who decides the opening and closing statements, along with their team's main arguments, and the line up (the order in which the students go up to state their reasoning). The leader is also put in charge of deciding how their team will be dressed on the day of the debate. Mrs.Beauchamp chose the leaders based on their interest in the debate, as well as by selecting students who do not typically lead. 

If a student was not present on the day of the debate, they were required to write a research paper on bullfighting. Students did, however, have a week to prepare for the debate. During class, the teams were taken into separate rooms and given class time to discuss topics, practice debating and stating their points, and do research. 

This year, the bullfighting debate took place on November 19th. There was an even number of 10 students on each team. The team against bullfighting consisted of: Mazzy T., Ethan C., Jaycee B., Micheal M., Dokken L., Andrew L., Gracie M., Dustin P., and their team leader  Naomi W. The opposing team that supported bullfighting included; Ben H., Kira S., Eric F., Madison C., Hannah P., Austin G., Jordan J., Brooklyn B., Kaitlyn I., and their team leader  Lilly R. 

 During the debate, each side had 30 seconds to give their response. The students had to remember these rules: avoid personal attacks,  come up with original points and ideas, and remember that human life always comes first and is not up for debate. They were scored on how well they made their point.

When asked what the students are getting out of this, Mrs. Beauchamp stated that it is important for them to learn how to state their opinion in a way that is not insulting and can be backed up with facts.She believes that it is important to recognize cultural differences as well.This year, the debate had the closest score it has ever had. Although the team that was for bullfighting won, the scores only had a difference of 1 point.

Written by: Madison Cardon.