ICNY’s Debate in the Neighborhood program finished up its third year with a final tournament on April 12. Students from Sikh, Hindu and Muslim communities debated topics straight out of today’s news headlines, including this debate on whether the MTA should refuse to display non-commercial ads in the transit system. The final, prize-winning debate (available here in its entirety) examined whether school principals should get involved when cyberbullying takes place outside the school. We encourage you to view the debate videos and be inspired by the intelligence, passion and energy these students bring to a discussion of security and freedom of speech.
We’d also like to thank our final round judges Kimberly O’Haver (Program Manager with the Open Society Foundation’s Youth Initiative), Hon. Kelly O’Neill Levy (Presiding Judge of the Harlem Community Justice Center), Sandy Maskell (Director of Operations at Mentoring USA), and Dr. Jeremy Waldron (Professor at the New York University School of Law), whose insightful critiques will undoubtedly help the students become even better debaters in the future.
And finally we want to thank all the brilliant students who made this year’s Debate in the Neighborhood program so exciting.
