Chicago Debates Celebrates 25 Years
Sharone R. Mitchell, Jr., is the Cook County Public Defender. While attending Morgan Park High School, he participated in Chicago Debates. Photo provided by Cook County Public Defender’s Office.
The Chicago Debates is a program that was created by business and civic leaders in 1995 as the Chicago Debate League. In 1997, it partnered with Chicago Public Schools. The Chicago Debates mission is to empower young people to find their voice and become leaders in their community.
Mitchell learned argumentation skills, doing research, public speaking and thinking on his feet. He also learned empathy, about people who came from different backgrounds than his own, and he met new people from different parts of the city.
“I believe my participation in Chicago Debates set the stage for everything I’ve accomplished academically, professionally and everything in between. As a Public Defender, I went pro in debate,” he said.
Mitchell believes Chicago Debates is the kind of activity that allows people to grow from it and it leads to careers that require public speaking, critical thinking and argumentation. He went back and volunteered with Chicago Debates. Mitchell has been really excited to see the program’s growth throughout the years.
When Chicago Debates partnered with CPS in 1997, there were 35 students in five schools participating. Now it is in more than 85 schools and has served more than 20,000 students. It also expanded to include middle schools in the early 2000s. Chicago Debates also began to focus its program where the need was the greatest, the South and West sides.
“This ends up being a program that cultivates a number of skills for students, beyond just academic skills. When you think about cultivating our future leaders, what do leaders need, what skills do we find in good leaders, debate is cultivating a number of those skills. Analytical skills, critical thinking, research and writing skills and communication skills, listening,” said Dr. Toinette Gunn, the former executive director of Chicago Debates, adding that instead of using emotion and opinion, debate uses evidence, facts and data to refute arguments.
The students who participate in Chicago Debates learn to listen to one another and engage in civil discourse, disagree with civility, as well as have empathy as they listen to diverse perspective on a variety of topics. Gunn described these skills as 21st century career skills that are necessary.
With Chicago Debates back in person this year, the hope is to service 1,500 students at 90 schools with debate across the city. Gunn wants to double the impact and expand over the next several years. The goal is to serve 3,000 students a year by 2027.
Gunn believes every student who wants the opportunity to debate should have the option to debate.
“Students rave about the community they are able to build, the friendships, the relationships, with their peers and with their coaches, who in so many ways become mentors. They look forward to this activity because it gives them something positive to do, but it also allows them to meet people from other neighborhoods across the city, and begins to help them find their voice,” Gunn said.
For more information about Chicago Debates, visit www.chicagodebates.org.
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