[sl/teen] An intern's report on a 'Human Barometer' debate on the subject of gun control.
On May 11th, I (Jay Clostermann) held a Human Barometer debate on gun control policys.
The debate was a simple thing to participate in. There were 3 platforms (shown above), one saying Agree, another saying Not sure, and another saying Disagree. I said a statement (this statement was not necessarily my direct opinion), then the teens went to the platform that suited their opinions best and pretyped their answer. When their name was called, they would answer with their opinion. This created a good debate.
Many views were discussed and debated, and statements coincidentally rolled on to the next statement.
The statements were thought provoking and on topic, which made the event go well. The statements which were said:
>1. It should be more difficult for people to obtain handguns in the United States.
>2. There would be fewer school shootings if gun control laws were stricter.
>3. There would be fewer school shootings if there were more efforts made to prevent bullying and other forms of abuse in schools.
>4. When a school shooting occurs, the parents of the guilty student
should be held criminally responsible.
>5. Colleges should be more careful not to admit students with a history
of threatening behavior or mental illness.
>6. Violent video games desensitize young people to violence IRL.
>7. Weapons should not be allowed in any part of TSL. (Or, weapons should be strictly limited to specific, clearly-designated areas for
"games" involving weapons).
>8. The Second Amendment of the US Constitution was meant to allow all
citizens to own handguns.
>9. People need handguns for self-defense against criminals.
>10. A gun is a terrible gift for a parent to give to their child.
Many thoughts and views were expressed. On number 10, teens thought that it would depend on the maturity of the child. On number 5, most of the teens agreed. There was a good heated debate, but moderated to not go off the deep end.
The discussion of opinions, gun control, and alot of other safety issues went well. The entire event in my opinion was very well played out.
Thank you to Lucky Figtree for being a co-moderator for this event, and taking pictures of this event like the one at the top of this post.
You can see more pictures here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/luckyfigtree/sets/72157600205689283/
Jay Clostermann.
