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The Current

The Great Teen Debate: Making the case for no more school

Anna Maria Tremonti moderates a competition between some of the sharpest young debaters in the country... who will argue the merits of the question - should high school be mandatory for a generation of teens who are known for their proclivity to teach themselves.
CBC Radio ·
(From left to right) Meet four members of the National Canadian Debate Team. Lloyd Lyall and Samantha Starkey are grade 12 students at West Point Grey Academy in Vancouver. Logan Ye is a grade 11 student at Upper Canada College in Toronto. And Dasha Metropolitansky is a grade nine student at White Oaks Secondary School in Oakville.
The Current24:59Introducing Generation Z: Making the case for no more school - June 26, 2015


In the movies, it's all football games and first kisses, but as anyone who's lived through it knows, in reality, high school can be a non-stop slog of assignments, book reports, and pop quizzes. It's always been that way. But now some voices are starting to ask whether that should change. After all, one defining trait of today's students is that they're very good at learning on their own.. So perhaps the time has come to liberate them from the classroom... and give high school a pass.

Be it resolved that teens shouldn't have to go to high school because they can learn better on their own. 

Today on The Current, some of Canada's sharpest teens will face off and argue just that. We were joined by four members of the National Canadian Debate Team. The team is just coming off a win at the Pan-American Debate Organization in California earlier this year.

Lloyd Lyall and Samantha Starkey are grade 12 students at West Point Grey Academy in Vancouver.

And in Toronto, we were joined by two students. Dasha Metropolitansky is a grade nine student at White Oaks Secondary School in Oakville, and Logan Ye is a grade 11 student at Upper Canada College in Toronto.


This special Gen Z edition of The Current was produced by Shannon Higgins and Josh Bloch. It originally aired in March. 


We want to hear from you on this.

Tell us which side of the debate you think comes out ahead.   

Do you think that high school is a waste of time?

Tweet us @TheCurrentCBC using the hashtag #GenZCBC, post on our Facebook page or email us.

And post a pic on Twitter or Instagram using the hashtag #GenZCBC to show us what you think defines young people today.
 

RELATED LINKS

♦ Canadian teens beat much of the globe in problem-solving skills - Toronto Star

♦ Decline in Happiness, Optimism During Late Teens - IPSOS Reid Survey

♦ Canadian teens most satisfied with life - PostMedia News

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