Your Kids Should Be Debating

We asked how important it is that students learn civil debate skills at school. The vast majority of Americans (about 80%) say it’s important for students to learn civil debate skills as part of their school curriculum in middle school and high school. Almost 90% of parents want students to learn debate skills at school.

The window between Thanksgiving and Christmas is an essential time to brush up on your debate skills. Whether your Thanksgiving conversations were about the best type of pie for the holiday (it’s pumpkin) or less serious topics like politics, you have about a month between family gatherings to prepare for the next lively discussion at Christmas dinner. But are the kids in your family also preparing accordingly?

Well, Americans and parents agree they should be.

In our November polling, we asked new questions about teaching debate skills in school. EdChoice and Morning Consult fielded this nationally representative survey of adults (N = 2,253) and parents (N = 1,303) from November 14 to 16.