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"Debate is like a link to different places. Half my family didn’t graduate high school. I don’t want to take the easy way. I wanted to take the hard way.”
Our Challenge
Education is critical to breaking the cycle of poverty.
Millions of urban kids cannot read or articulate ideas. Half won't graduate from high school. They have lost hope before their time and will not be able to participate as informed citizens in our democracy. One method for teaching young people to articulate ideas was civics education in school which often included participation in debate clubs. The benefits of debate include skill development in critical thinking, public policy and values research, computer research proficiency, public speaking, advocacy, and conflict resolution.
Former debater, Tim Sanders, author of Love is a Killer App, suggests that “Once scarcity created value. Today, abundance can create value. In the old days when we traded tangibles such as gold, the less gold that was available, the higher its value. Supply and demand ruled. Now the opposite can be true. Abundance creates power. If you have a great idea for running a business and it is adapted throughout your industry, your idea is more not less valuable.” ALOUD applies the abundance philosophy to debate bringing it to towns and cities and sharing its power with others interested in youth voice.
This is our message to urban students:
Your Voice. Your Future. Debate.
2007 Associated Leaders of Urban Debate
330 West 42nd Street Suite 2420
New York, NY 10036
(Tel) 1-866-4DEBATE, (fax) 212-471-8664