Looking to the present, the first round contains two debates, the first of which has a pre-released motion, which is (drum roll please)…

THIS HOUSE WOULD BAN JUNK FOOD

Your mentors will be helping you prepare this motion in the next two sessions, but here are some thoughts, ideas and facts to get you started. As ever, feel free to post your comments about the motion.

Brief:

Junk food is a term used for food that has little or no nutritional value; this includes snacks, sweets and fast foods such as KFC or McDonalds. Junk foods are typically high in fat/sugar. Junk food is easy to obtain, and usually very tasty, therefore it is very popular with a majority of people.

The motion is THW ban junk food, which means that all methods of producing and obtaining junk food would, in effect, be removed.

Things to consider:

What goes into junk food?

• Junk foods are often high in saturated fats, sugar and additives.
• Many junk food snacks also contain artificial flavourings, colourings and preservatives
• A lot of non-chain fast food is deep fried in unhealthy oils, and contains high levels of salt.
• The quality of the meat is also suspicious – it may be highly processed or reformed, and probably won’t be organic or free-range.

Are there any alternatives to junk food?

• Many supermarkets sell convenient ranges of sandwiches, salads and snacks.
• Fruit is naturally high in sugar, but does not feel so “filling”.
• Making sandwiches allow you to choose what goes into your packed lunch

Who eats junk food?

• Junk food is very popular among young people, particularly since Jamie Oliver’s crusade against unhealthy school dinners. It is popular for students to pop into fast food outlets at lunchtimes and after school to get their fix, rather than have school dinners which are perceived as ‘boring’ and ‘not tasty’.
• It is said that among young people and lower social groups, “things like fried chicken have become the mainstay of their diets” (see “Britain’s fried-chicken boom”, http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/feb/18/britains-fried-chicken-boom). This is because junk food is cheap.

 Who are junk food adverts targeted at?

• Junk food is explicitly targeted at young people: children, teenagers, and people who work and are usually very busy. This is because it gives them and quick, easy and cheap way to eat and still be able to continue working during the day. Consider the advertising of Happy Meals, and the way that junk food snacks are positioned right by the checkout in supermarkets.

 How much does junk food cost?

• Is junk food cheaper than the healthy alternatives? A meal from a chip shop can be as cheap as £1.50, whereas a meal deal from a supermarket (Sandwich, crisps and a drink) is £2.50.
• But making your own sandwiches (a packed lunch) can be even cheaper.
• Sweets and chocolates are cheap enough to be affordable by kids with pocket money.

Useful links:

• http://www.kidcyber.com.au/topics/junkfood.htm
• http://www.fatfreekitchen.com/junkfoods/junkfoods1.html
• http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2005/03/23/junk-food-part-four.aspx
• http://www.nhs.uk/news/2010/08August/Pages/Junk-food-and-allergies.aspx

Looking to the present, the first round contains two debates, the first of which has a pre-released motion, which is (drum roll please)…

THIS HOUSE WOULD LEGALIZE EUTHANASIA

Your mentors will be helping you prepare this motion in the next two sessions, but here are some thoughts, ideas and facts to get you started:

What is it?

Voluntary euthanasia is when someone ends another person’s life upon their request. A related term is ‘assisted suicide’ which involves someone providing an individual with the information, guidance, and means to take their own life knowing that they will be used for this purpose, but the patient  himself commits the act that causes death . Voluntary euthanasia is usually administered by act which is when a person’s death is intentionally caused by performing an action such as by giving a lethal injection.

Where does this happen?

Currently the only states in the world to have legalised voluntary euthanasia or assisted suicide are the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Oregon and Washington (USA). 

Why would someone ask for voluntary euthanasia?

• They may be suffering from intense pain due to an illness
• They may want to control the manner in which they die so they can retain some dignity

Are there any potential risks?

• The decision to kill yourself is irreversible
• There  exists potential to put pressure on sick family members to end their lives

Key Statistics

• Dignitas is an organisation in Switzerland that facilitates suicide. 694 British people travelled to Switzerland to die at Dignitas.
• A survey was completed by a sample of 986 medical practitioners from a wide range of medical professions in the UK from March 26th to April 9th 2003. It showed that 60% were against euthanasia and 60% were against assisted suicide. When asked if they would be prepared to perform either if they were legalised, 76% said ‘no’ to euthanasia and 74% said no to assisted suicide.

Useful links:

• Dignitas - a clinic in Switzerland which offers assisted suicide to terminally ill people
• Q&A on assisted suicide – The Guardian - which examines the legal issues surrounding the updated guidelines
• Q&A on assisted suicide – BBC News - a similar piece from the BBC
• “Euthanasia and assisted suicide” – BBC Health – an article on historical and global perspectives on the subject
• “The law’s a muddle. Is that such a bad thing?” – The Times – columnist Philip Collins gives a balanced view of the situation, concluding that perhaps the current legal position of ambiguity is best.

We’re sure your teachers will have explained the case for striking, and why they disagree with the government’s planned changes, but what do you all think? Are teachers on strike putting their own interests ahead of yours’? Are strikes in schools massively disruptive to your education, and result in annoying catch-up lessons? And, maybe, do you think pension reforms are necessary and that like the rest of us, teachers have to sacrifice a little for the sake of the economy?

Or do you believe teachers deserve a day to take to the streets in defence of the way things are? (Though you might know teachers who are planning on using the day to catch up on marking and/or daytime television.) It might be that you feel really passionately against changes to pensions – after all, some of your favourite teachers might not have signed up as teachers if they knew they would be less generously rewarded when they retire.

Whatever you think, we want to get a bit of a debate going, so post your comments below.

When you get back from your clubs, why not post your comments on what games you enjoyed, what you like about your mentors (don’t worry, they’re all awesome!), and what topics you’d like to debate about in the weeks to come?

We’ll be sharing your views with our mentors, so they know how to make the clubs even better!

One final thing: if you want to relive the magic of our London Launch, we’ve put the KanYe West-endorsed video up on YouTube so you can go nuts all over again. Have all that power…

You’ve heard what our star debaters had to say, and maybe you got to make your point heard in the show debate. But now we want to see what the rest of you think. Get involved, by posting your comments on the debate using the form below!

Key Facts

• SATs testing happens in year 2 and 6
• Children in the U.K are tested more than children in any other European Country
• SATs results are published in a league table, and are used to see how good a school is
• SATs tests only consist on English, Maths and Science tests

Proposition

• Do SATs tests really test your understanding of the subject, or just your memory?
• Is it right to put children under a lot of stress?
• Do SATs put your teacher under too much pressure?
• Is it fair that SATs lower the importance of lessons such as humanities, P.E, or music?
• Is it fair that U.K children are the most tested in Europe?
• Do SATs cause parents to put too much pressure on their children?
• Is it fair that primary schools are judged by SATs results, without taking into account children’s situations, such as if they have special needs?
• Would a teacher assessment or report be a better means of testing?
• Does SATs testing cost to much to the government?
• Can government money spent on SATs testing be used better elsewhere?

Opposition

• Do SATs give an accurate reflection of your ability in English, Maths and Science?
• Is it good to have a testing system that is used in every school in the U.K?
• Do SATs mean that children learn the most important English, Maths and Science skills?
• Would Teacher Assessment actually work?
• Do SATs tests help children learn to deal with stress?
• Do SATs league tables cause schools to perform better overall, and allow for some healthy competition, leading to improvement?
• Do parents deserve to see how well their child is doing?
• Is pressure put on by parents the problem of the parent, and not SATs testing
• Is the pressure put on children and teachers positive?
• Is SATs testing a good use of money

Suggested reading

• Concern over English SATs – BBC
• SATs Testing Shows Improvement - BBC
• Teacher’s Union want to End SATs testing – The Independent
• SATs cause “teaching to the test” – The Daily Telegraph
• Other pupils give their views on SATs tests – BBC
• SATs Show English and Maths Scores improvement – Sky News

Introduction

In the UK only around 60% of people voted in the last general election – the public doesn’t feel that politicians represent their opinions or listen to what they have to say.

Why are protests important?
What is change? Is it changing the government’s mind on a certain issue or is it about changing perceptions in society?
What different ways of protesting are there?

http://www.responsiblecitizen.co.uk/ways-of-protesting.html

Since the start of the 1900’s protests have been an important way that the public has been able to influence decisions that the government makes – many of the biggest political decisions that have been made over the past 100 years have been as the result of public protests.

Proposition:

In the past 20 years there has been no example of a public protest being successful in changing the policy of a government!

What protests have been ineffective in the UK?

Tuition fees/EMA:

Student protests against the government policy to increase university tuition fees and scrap EMA are an example of public action that seemed to have no impact upon changing the policy of a government.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-11849259

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/dec/02/fourth-student-protest-fees

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/video/2010/dec/13/educational-maintenance-allowance-protests-student-higher-education-students

What protests have been ineffective internationally?

Iraq war:

The protests against the Iraq war in 1997 were held across the world; however, this seemed to have no effect on the US led decision to go invade.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/2765041.stm

Do these examples show that protests are never effective?

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/steve-richards/steve-richards-dont-expect-protests-to-achieve-much-2154780.html

Opposition:

Protests can achieve their aims.

Hosni Mubarak, dictator in Egypt for 30 years, was ousted by a popular uprising. Here an Egyptian describes their experience of the protests:

http://livewire.amnesty.org/2011/02/14/the-new-face-of-egypt/

However protests aren’t just about changing policy. It’s also about changing views in society and bringing certain issues to light.

Big companies like Vodafone and Boots manage to avoid tax regulations, whilst the government cuts public services. This is something that was widely unknown about until UK Uncut raised awareness about tax avoidance:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/9383598.stm

Students get their message heard by holding large, high profile protests over tuition fees. This was effective at putting the issue on the agenda:

http://www.politics.co.uk/news/education/met-wary-ahead-of-fresh-tuition-fee-protests-$21385971.htm

Whilst tuition fees were raised, the government’s majority was cut by three quarters, showing that protests were able to lessen the support of the policy by raising awareness:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/coalition-majority-slashed-in-tuition-fees-vote-2155568.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11952449

Proposition

• What’s the punishment? Point deduction?
• Why is it bad for sport for us to see fans rioting?
• Why are the Club responsible for their fans?
• If the solution to fans rioting doesn’t come from the clubs, where will it come from?
• If abuse and violence is taking place at these clubs, it could be said that the owners haven’t done enough to solve it, right now it goes unpunished. If we punish the owners they might want to do more.
• Why will this work?
• What is the alternative? Why would any alternative be better than punishing the club?
• Why will fans knowing their team will lose points mean they won’t behave badly?
• If clubs know that they will lose points and places in the League, doesn’t this mean they will make sure their fans behave well?
• Bad behaviour is often in large groups of fans, why would it be easy and effective to punish the clubs for the bad behaviour?
• Fans can be offensive and abusive to sports men and women. What will this to do the game?
• Look at the picture above. What effects does this have on the player and basketball?
• If people are allowed to abuse and offend players, and it goes unpunished this might give young people an idea that’s it is ok for this to happen. Who else in society does this effect?

Opposition

• Why should we as the club be punished for individual’s behaviour?
• Realistically, what can we do to change the culture of our club and make the fans behave well?
• Bad behaviour is often down to a small group of fans, why should the other fans be punished? They may get more annoyed which would cause more problems.
• Clubs already try to restrict the behaviour of their fans, for example not having alcohol in the ground; this means we do not have to punish them more to stop it happening. They know they need a good reputation to attract fans.
• The way our fans behave should not affect our position in the league and our success.
• The players deserve to be rewarded for their hard work and success in the league without being affected by their fans.
• Existing punishments (by the police) are effective.
• Referees should not make stupid decisions that will aggravate fans.
• Rioting is not a rational decision, so the punishment would not affect whether they behave badly or not.
• Would these fans actually be happy if their clubs got punished? We might see it have a worse effect if these fans see their favourite club or team get points taken away.

Suggested reading

Basketball fans discuss cruel taunts and the behaviour they expect from one another - LA Times

Views from the public on punishing fans, relating to a 2002 incident at a match between Cardiff and Leeds football clubs - BBC. (Interestingly, many fans express the view that the media is at least partly responsible for fan behaviour.)

A long article about abusive fans at college basketball games – Sports Illustrated

Club blames fan for hitting referee with coin and seeks to avoid responsibility (from a 2009 Cardiff match). Other commentators said that many fans were involved, so the club should be punished.

The president of the US National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) calls for an end to unruly fan behaviour – Huffington Post

UEFA run anti-racism advert – but are they doing enough? (From 2008)

An article on violence at a West Ham game in the Daily Mail. Readers gave their views on whether the club should be punished here. Eventually, the club received a fine, but no greater punishment, as reported in the Evening Standard.

Officials in Sweden contemplate punishing a team for fans’ behaviour by making it play several games in an empty stadium, or by fining it over £40,000 – The Local

Serious consequences for a South African rugby team, who were banned for 15 years after fans and players brawl

Fascinating Israeli blog post about football fans, political parties and racism. Teams are punished for the comments of their fans, and threatened with league expulsion:

More Advanced Articles

An article on the psychology of fan violence – National Geographic

A long article about violence in European football, UEFA rules and the exclusion of a Dutch team from the 2006/7 UEFA cup tournament. Contains detailed information about UEFA policies and procedures.

Some facts and links to help prepare for this topic can be read below. Good luck!

THW punish celebrities for misconduct in their private lives

Some general questions to think about:

• Do certain individuals have an impact on our society?

In a recent poll of young men, David Beckham ranked the top role model, closely followed by Ronaldo

Questions for the proposition:

• Do these individuals have a responsibility to be good role models?
• Is it in the public interest to punish these actions?

Questions for the opposition:

• Is it fair for these individuals to be punished more than everyone else for these actions just because they are in the public eye?
• Are they already punished in different ways to everyone else?

Tiger Woods loses sponsorship deals:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/28/magazine/28Woods-t.html

Some articles/examples:

John Terry’s affair with his team mate’s girlfriend:

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/terrys-affair-with-team-mates-girlfriend-revealed-1883649.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/personal-view/7176030/John-Terry-a-scandal-to-shame-us-all.html

Lindsay Loan’s problems with partying/alcohol/drugs:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/7901713/Lindsay-Lohan-jailed-latest-scandal-in-troubled-career.html

• The threshold at which graduates have to start paying their loans back would be raised from £15,000 to £21,000.

• The subsidised interest rate at which the repayments are made will rise from 0 for incomes of £21,000, to 3% plus inflation (RPI) for incomes above £41,000

• Debts will be forgiven after 30 years

We asked two students to give opposing views on this issue

Miranda from Birmingham argues that tuition fee reform is a good idea

-Firstly we have to accept that those who attend University are the ones who benefit from their degree and as a result students should contribute more to cover the cost of their qualification. Education has to be paid for by someone and the taxpayer should not foot the majority of the bill. In these harsh economic times I believe that this is the fairest allocation of resources.

-Secondly there are lots of things within these reforms that really help the poor. Those on schools meals will be eligible for up to two years free tuition and Universities will not be allowed to charge more than £6,000 unless they commit to access agreements.

-Thirdly if Universities in the UK want to remain the best in the world then they need a better source of funding otherwise standards will start to slip.
I understand that a lot of people feel let down by the politicians, especially the liberal democrats but these are hard times and hard choices need to be made.

Samarat from London has marched against the reforms and believes they represent a bad deal for students

Raising the cap will seriously affect the composition of Universities in the UK.
-Firstly I fear that many students will no longer choose their courses based on what suits them but based on what is cheapest. Students from poorer families who are often debt averse or who want to avoid a large loan with an interest rate will shun higher education altogether. Universities should be striving to increase their diversity not implementing policies that undermines that aim.

-Secondly It’s a myth that these reforms will improve the funding for Universities because the government are making huge cuts to the higher education budget anyway. My question is why not scrap our Nuclear arsenal? Why not pull our troops out of a highly expensive war?

-Thirdly there are other options to explore including introducing a form of graduate taxation
This is a betrayal of trust by the Liberal Democrats and I’m certain that students and parents up and down the country will never forgive them for this.