<p>Thanks for the earlier thread in which some of your related your experiences with high school debate. My son seems to have a high degree of "into-itness" in his new activity of Lincoln-Douglas debate, and he may be inclined to sign up for a summer debate institute. He is likely to have a schedule conflict during mid-to-late July, when one possible program (attending by other members of his team in previous years) runs. Do you have any recommendations for summer programs for high school debaters? I found a list of such programs </p>
<p>and there seem to be many possible choices. I would also be glad to hear about summer programs that focus mostly on policy debate rather than Lincoln-Douglas debate, because maybe my son will grow interested in that. Thanks for any tips you have about using the summer for high school debate preparation.</p>
<p>and for policy debate, which i do, unt, michigan, michigan state, northwestern, dartmouth debate institute, dartmouth debate workshop, and whitman are all national circuit caliber, it's all up to your schedule i suppose. if you have any questions on specific camps, just let me know.</p>
<p>I confess I know nothing about debate but a friend's daughter who is very into it attended a 2 week camp at Wake Forest University last summer that she thought was very good.</p>
<p>My D has been to Emory, Northwestern, Gonzaga and loved all three for different reasons. Michigan, Michigan State, Dartmouth and monay others run great programs. If you go on cross-x.com (I think that's the website) they have a list of summer programs on their forum pages. Also the coach/teacher should be getting info on programs after the first of the year.</p>
<p>My daughter attended Indiana U debate camp, and it was pretty good. They have both LD and Policy. Stanford is supposed to be excellent. However, you should talk to your debate coach, and see what he/she recommends, because different regions in the country have different styles/ways of debating, and learning the "wrong" style might actually hurt your son in competitions.</p>
<p>Why do you prefer policy debate for him? (just curious...)</p>
<p>my sophomore son would love debate camp but we have no debate team in our high school and a fifty percent drop out rate. I suppose he would be too raw and uncoached for debate camp and that debate camp is for kids who have actual teams in their home high schools? He was extremely happy at CTY last summer and liked oral presentations.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I suppose he would be too raw and uncoached for debate camp and that debate camp is for kids who have actual teams in their home high schools?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I don't know. Indeed, that is one of my questions. Do the major debate camps take all comers, or do they screen applicants and only take those with some strong experience in debate?</p>
<p>but most of the camps have really good novice programs. I'd say whitman has a very good program for students who have never debated before. Note this is for policy debate. i don't know much about ld</p>
<p>VBI is the trendiest camp, but I hear more about having fun than learning good communication and argumentation skills. I'd recommend, for an LD debater, Iowa, I've heard it's good, or Yale. Yale's LD program is pretty prestigious, is selective, and has an admissions tie-in (not guaranteed but they do an admissions session, etc.) PM Me if you want more. Yale's a lot of work, though.</p>
<p>NY times, Wall street , CNN, and similar newspaper and magazine offer better opportunities by reading these papers and staying informed. Invest in these resources. However, my kid never attended any formal progarm. But she tells me that SNFI and dartmouth debate are good progarms.</p>
<p>
[quote]
someone kindly translate "ID debater vs. policy debater" for me
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Lincoln-Douglas debate ("LD debate") and policy debate are two different formats for interscholastic debate competitions, with different "rules of the game." The LD format was invented since I was last an active debater or debate coach, in part in response to some perceived areas of degeneration in the usual practice of policy debate. Policy debate is the only kind of debate I participated in, in the 1970s, and the only kind I ever coached. My son's team has only LD participants; it has no policy debate team at all because none of the current coaches have any policy debate experience. </p>
<p>LD debate involves two individuals debating propositions of value (what is the right thing to do), taking turns like Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas. Policy debate involves two teams of two individuals debating propositions of policy (what is the right thing to do, and how should it be done), with each person getting two turns to speak for his or her team's side. As I was last involved in policy debate, it was being taken over by a style of speaking known as "motor-mouth," which in my opinion is a bane on the sport. Lincoln-Douglas debate is specifically intended to discourage "motor-mouth" delivery, but in actual judging some LD debaters do well by motor-mouthing, which I think is regrettable. </p>
<p>Thanks for all the comments in this thread. They are much appreciated. Please feel free to keep posting.</p>
<p>Around here policy debate kids "spread", as in spread the information on thick.. different nomenclature for the same thing, I think. (spreading sounds a bit like an auctioneer; you can only understand about every 3rd word) Ah, I miss the jargon of debate...</p>