American History Hosts 2nd Streetcar Debate in Series

By Militza Diaz
Published June 6, 2011

NEWARK, NJ - American History High held a public debate on Thursday, May 5th. Four debaters from American High participated in a discussion about whether we should criminalize cyber bullying. The affirmative side was upheld by partners Rafiki Johnson and Martina Harris, while the opposing side was defended by Quamir Johnson and Jazir Beckford. Rafiki and Martina are part of Coach Larricchia's public forum team, while Jazir and Quameir are both policy debaters.

The students argued whether cyberbullying should be criminalized. Many factors help determine this contention, according to the affirmative team. Cyberbullying is an activity which follows the victim 24/7 since words on an electronic format can be accessed anytime. Holding people accountable can serve as a deterrent. In addition, the affirmative team reminded everyone that cyberbullying is not limited to students, and thus, schools cannot be the proper channel to handle these actions.

The negative side argued that criminalizing behavior does not deter people from acting inappropriately, and cited drunk driving as an example of how passing a law does not stop all bad behavior. They also argued that the already overburdened court system would clog up with a lot of lawsuits about cyberbullying, which should be handled by schools.

About 50 people attended, including students, teachers and administrators city-wide. The question and answer period was very animated, with students asking a lot of thought provoking questions. All these insightful questions showed that the students were really engaged in this critical discussion regarding a current topic which affects so many of our youth today.