The Not-so-Great NZ Debate

 I went to a lot of effort to watch and record The Great New Zealand Debate last night on Channel 1 (that is I asked Matt to set-up the video and then watched it. Tiring stuff really.) I had a cunning plan to end the Debating unit that I am doing at the moment with my Year 10 class by watching it on Friday. I thought it would be a fun way to end the term.

I have to say I was a little disappointed. Firstly, it was way too smutty and crass to let a Year 10 watch which is really saying something because they are not delicate little creatures.

However, what really disappointed me was the lack of actual debating. I haven’t always watched it over the years but didn’t they used to argue the moot, rebut the opponents’ points and well, debate?

Debating is supposed to use humour and some of the rebuttal can get fierce and heated but is not supposed to be a 6 minute stand-up routine of cheap and crude jabs at the sexual activities of Kiwi B-grade celebrities such as Charlotte Dawson and Shrek the sheep!