Personal Conduct A two
year quantitative analysis of the Baltimore Urban Debate League (2003) employed
a sample of 235 students. Researchers from the Center for Applied Research
collected student data from school records. They also conducted observation of
debate training and debate tournaments, and used focus group discussions to
collect students' perceptions of the benefit of participating in debate.The most significant finding "is the
potential of (debate) to shift the students' locus of control (i.e., to
empower). . . a higher debating level
increases the odds of empowerment among students four-fold; a high level of
participation in tournaments increases the odds of an internal locus of control
three-fold." The degree and intensity of participation thus seems
correlated with certain outcomes. A 2004
University of Missouri-Kansas City study notes that a year's participation in
debate makes students three times less likely to engage in high-risk behaviors
such as fighting and skipping school.
(www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/21/AR2007082101715.html)
“Georgia
State University researchers compared students who attended the Computer
Assisted Debate after-school program on average twice a week vs. the total
middle school population in their annual average number of disciplinary
referrals the year before and after the program began. Disciplinary referrals
included all expulsions, in-school detentions, and mandatory parent-teacher
conferences. For the school as a whole, the number of disciplinary referrals
remained relatively constant, with only a 1% decrease. The debaters, however,
showed a 50% drop after only one year in the program. In the following year,
the substantial drop for the debate students continued at 46%.”(http://communication.gsu.edu/ndp/benefits.htm). Infante,
et al. (1984) note that debate’s ability to create argumentative flexibility decreases
reliance on verbal aggression and, therefore, the chance of physical
aggression. Fine
(1999) concludes that academic debate gives students greater self-esteem and
that debaters, “appear to assign higher value to resolving their conflicts through
dialogue rather than force” (http://communication.gsu.edu/ndp/benefits.htm).