The Infant School Debate Club met this month for another exciting debate – ‘Computers are better than books’.
The session began with a discussion about what a debate is and what rules we might need in place to ensure that our debate runs smoothly. We looked at our British Values poster and discussed ‘Respect and Tolerance’. During our debate we agreed that everyone’s opinions would be listened to and whether we agree with them or not, as a group we would respect each other. Our debate question had no wrong or right answer.
The children got into two groups (for and against), discussed their ideas, and decided which ones they should use to get their views across. Once we started our debate the children took turns to speak and respond creating some interesting discussions, with some children confidently challenging their peers and swaying their opinion. The debate was so much fun and even carried on into the dinner hall!
For those children that could not attend the club they left their vote at the two voting stations in the KS1 corridor.
Here are some of the comments made during the debate. What do you think?
Computers are better than books
“No because I can’t take a computer to bed”. (Yr2)
One child said “Computers, because you can keep your past photos on them”. Another responded “But you could write a diary in a book or make a scrap book”. (Yr2)
“Computers are better because you can research on them”. (Yr1)
One child said “Computers light up so you can see them better”. (Yr1) Another responded “You could just use a light to read a book”. (Yr2)
“You can collect books”. (Yr2)
One child said “Computers are bright and can hurt your eyes, books don’t hurt you”. (Yr2) Another responded “Yes they can, you can get a paper cut”. (Yr1) A third agreed “I get travel sick when I read in the car”.(Yr1)
“Books are better because you can’t get hacked”. (Yr2)
One child said “If you spill water on a computer you can hurt yourself and it breaks”. (Yr1) Another responded “But if you spill water on a book it gets soggy pages and breaks”. (Yr2)
“Computers are expensive, not everyone can have one, books don’t cost as much”. (Yr2)
