On Sunday, October 2, 2011, eight members of Montgomery High School’s Speech and Debate team spent the day in Danville, California participating in the student congress there. This all day event was comprised of three sessions of debate throughout the day. Once the students were broken up into classrooms for the day, in each classroom debated the issues they had previously prepared.

Before each tournament, bills are available online and students can prepare their responses to them by doing research and practicing debates. The topics for this particular event ranged from the abolition of the department of education to setting a flat tax rate to the funding for manned space flight.

In each classroom, students act as Representatives in the House of Representatives, or Senators in the Senate, the two levels of the competition. For some, the event is a chance to sit back and hear the arguments presented, for others, a moment to step forward and give a speech, taking a chance, and for some, it is a competition, all about the winning. No matter what the event means to the individual, it’s a time for teenagers to don adult, polished personas and act respectfully and formally in rhetoric.

This event, and other speech and debate events like it, prompt teens to become mature and accountable versions of themselves. Student Congress provides an opportunity for young people to care about current events and act respectfully with their peers.