Kevin Lyman comforts his daughter, Lizzie, after her team from Midtown High School lost in the semifinals .
TRAVIS LOLLER
Associated Press
At the National Speech and Debate Tournament, two high school students take the stage. The first articulates the position he was assigned to defend -- people should have a right to secede from their government -- and why it is correct.
Another student, assigned the opposite position, systematically tears down his views.
Many a young debater may learn the rhetorical skills to become a successful lawyer or politician, subduing an opponent through wit and wordplay. But are they learning skills that will make them better citizens of an increasingly contentious republic?
A year later and 800 miles away, two teams of high school students convene at the University of North Carolina for the National High School Ethics Bowl finals. A moderator asks about the boundaries of discourse -- when a public figure dies, how do you weigh the value and harm of critical commentary about their life?
People are also reading... Marion man awaiting trial for Old Fort murder now facing child sex crimes in McDowell County McDowell County Schools looks to buy land in Marion for new building to house two schools McDowell schools alum aimed to play football, be an officer. He played for Mars Hill and is now a deputy 114 year old McDowell County mountain church to rebuild from Hurricane Helene 5 McDowell County schools will have new principals in the next school year Downtown Marion restaurant set to close as owners start new venture in cheese making McDowell nonprofit asks Marion leaders to address concerns of hemp-derived products McDowell County leaders reject proposal for 14 day max stay for shelter animals Nebo man charged for debris burn that started Brunswick County wildfire, NC officials say Siblings from Morganton transforming former Tudor House restaurant into upscale bar Marion's historically Black Morehead Cemetery to get sign detailing history Camping World in Marion, once Tom Johnson Camping Center, closes permanently Man charged after dead person's car stolen, found burned in McDowell County McDowell sheriff's office arrests Marion man for breaking in to home, stealing $100 of food Former McDowell High counselor, coach rejects plea deal in child sex crime case
Teams are not assigned positions. One presents ideas. The opposing team asks questions that help everyone to think about the issue more deeply. No one attacks.
At a time when many Americans wonder if it is still possible to have a principled, respectful disagreement over important issues, proponents of Ethics Bowl say it points the way.
Participants are given cases to discuss and make their own decisions. Teams can, and often do, come to similar conclusions. It is -- and this is important -- OK for them to agree. Scoring is based on how deeply they explore the issues, including other viewpoints.
Discussion replaces discord
Robert Ladenson, who developed the Ethics Bowl as a college philosophy classroom exercise in 1993 and went on to lead the Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl for decades, explains what he considers an ethical understanding of an issue in an oral history for the University of Illinois in 2023.
It means "having some capacity to view, from the inside, the ethical outlooks of people who disagree with you. That means not simply being aware of what they've said or what they've written, or being able to develop a nifty debaters' responses to the viewpoints they hold -- but really looking inside the other view and trying to understand it from the other person's way of looking at the world."
That plays out at Ethics Bowl. Take "See Spot Clone," a case about whether it is ethical to clone a pet.
Harpeth Hall from Nashville starts the discussion with six minutes to present their thoughts. There are millions of homeless pets, so the ethical choice is to adopt, they believe. Cloning is self-serving for the human; the pet cannot consent. Cloning may involve unknown health issues for the cloned pet. The team also believes it is important for people to confront death.
Now team B -- Miami's Archimedean Upper Conservatory -- rather than attack and refute, asks questions to expand the discussion. Where do pet breeders fit on the ethical continuum? What's wrong with cloning a pet for your happiness? Are all selfish pursuits bad?
Next, the judges ask questions. What if there were no possible health problems for the cloned animal? What if the animal is cloned for a more noble purpose? Would it be ethical to clone a skilled search-and-rescue dog?
Easy answers avoided
In a society awash in shortcuts and simple solutions, setting the ground rules for contentious conversations can be a high hill to climb. At the Ethics Bowl, though, it's part of the point: The process of conversation is as important as the outcome. Subtlety matters.
A good Ethics Bowl case is one where "two well-meaning individuals can take in all of the same facts and information and come to diametrically opposite, value-driven answers," says Alex Richardson, who directed the National Bowl for five years.
Teams discuss cases for weeks but don't know which they'll be asked about. Once the question is read, they get a few minutes for more discussion.
The cases students grapple with include real-life scenarios, like the less-than-respectful response to the December murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson. There are philosophical issues, like whether humans should pursue immortality. There are dilemmas teens deal with every day, like whether posting on Instagram about a hate crime in your community makes you complicit.
That last case was a difficult one for the Harpeth Hall team, they say, but it helped them clarify their thoughts about social media.
Seeking common ground
The National High School Ethics Bowl is 12 years old; this year, 550 teams competed in regional bowls around the U.S. A 2022 survey of participants in nationals found 100% believed their critical thinking skills improved. A large majority said their ethical or political beliefs changed.
Sona Zarkou, on the BASIS Flagstaff team, sees herself as a case study in Ethics Bowl benefits. When she practiced debate, she says, she was "kind of a jerk" -- "very quick to attack and very rude." In Ethics Bowl, she sees herself "turn the discussion to something a lot more respectful, a lot more truth-oriented."
Rhiannon Boyd, a judge at this year's competition, a high school teacher and coach and the organizer of the Virginia High School Ethics Bowl, has seen positive changes. Two of her students last year were on opposite ends of the political spectrum. Their disagreement was great. Could they be on the same team?
In the end, both joined and made it all the way to nationals. Their diff ering opinions remain but now, Boyd says, they are "really good friends."
There is a winning team and a trophy, but students say it is not competitive in a traditional sense.
"It's not about beating people," says Lizzie Lyman, whose first-year team from Midtown High School in Atlanta lost in the semifinals. "When it's about constructively answering a question and just having a really interesting, engaging conversation, that's where you get to have all these amazing conversations."
Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
Be the first to know
Get local news delivered to your inbox!
Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.