Debating Ideas for Austria

You can't just memorise democratic processes and values. It requires a mix of listening, convincing arguments, and a willingness to respond to one another for democratic processes to develop.  The debate club provides an excellent platform. The students are challenged to take sides on controversial issues, demonstrate their perception of problems, propose ideas for the resolution of the problems addressed and find arguments to defend their own positions.
Participants of a debate club will experience that using reasoned argument when dealing with a topic is something they have to learn first but also something they can practise. Expressing yourself precisely, clearly presenting your own point of view, knowing what your goals are, and being able to define and to verify how to get there, are what debating can teach you. 
The debate club not only offers students a setting in which they can improve their rhetoric skills but will also especially help them to deepen their expertise in dealing with issues young people (should) have an opinion on. Thinking in a structured way, developing a clear argument, and responding to other arguments precisely - these are core competences, not only in the spoken but also in the written word.