Pondering how to change the world into a better place alone won’t accomplish anything but debating it can, notable American professor Edwin Shurter suggested in 1908 — and that premise continues to reverberate today.

Bermuda is sending five of its best teenage minds off to South Korea to put the power of debate to the test. The teens will represent the Island at arguably the most prestigious event of high school parliamentary debating in the world.

Adam Kiki-Charles, 18, Blake Sonnenfeld, 15, Sasha Slayton, 16, reserve member, Jacari Brimmer-Landy, 15, all of Saltus Grammar School and Michelle Kelly, 16, of Mount Saint Agnes Academy and Aliyyah Ahad, 16, of Bermuda High School for Girls, make up the team.

Every year since 1988, The World School Debating Championships (WSDC) has been hosted in a different country, by a national debating body, in venues that have included Sydney, London, Johannesburg and Singapore.

And, starting on Monday, more than 50 countries, represented by teams of five per nation, will converge on one of Asia’s most developed countries for the 12-day tournament, conducted in English.

The Bermuda Debate Society (BDS) — the organisation sending the pupils — meets every Wednesday afternoon to train and familiarise interested youth in the art and skills of debate.

BDS is responsible for all debating activities in Bermuda and each November it hosts, in collaboration with the Bermuda Junior Service League, a national competition for the Island’s middle and secondary school students.

BDS has been sending a delegation of four or five senior students, their coach and a judge to the WSDC for more than 15 years and Bermuda even hosted the WSDC in 1997.

In his second time attending the world championships, this year’s Bermuda team captain Adam Kiki-Charles, sat down with The Royal Gazette to give his perspective on the extraordinary adventure.

“This tournament will consist of eight rounds (four preliminary and four impromptu) then the top 16 teams enter elimination rounds, all with the goal of being named champion in the grand final,” Adam explained.

Born and raised in the US, having come to Bermuda nearly five years ago, he plans to study medicine and will attend the Ivy League Brown University in the fall to begin pre-med studies.

He continued: “In our weekly meetings, we’ve debated topics such as bio- and genetic engineering, pharmaceuticals and euthanasia. In South Korea, we will debate four contentious prepared areas.

“They will be: Whether or not free trade harms the developing world; if Holocaust denial should be criminalised; US withdrawal from its military bases in Asia; and, if clean industry development should be a condition for nations to receive non-emergency aid. Regarding the art of debate, I just like the fact that you get the opportunity to explore issues that are probably more complex that you deal with in the classroom.

“I like challenging myself and thinking about different motions and how best to tackle them — it’s really rewarding when you plan a good case and articulate it successfully.”

While summer is here, most teens his age would rather spend their time on the beach, indulging during their time away from academia, but these young people are deliberating on complex issues with the aim of saving the world.

“I’m not completely positive about what I would like to do in the future, but if there’s any way that I can help someone, I’d definitely be inclined to do that,” Adam said.

Inclusive in their two-week stay, the debaters will be given tours of several cultural and landmark sites that will include the big one: a visit to the infamous demilitarised zone that marks the border with North Korea.

Often known as the 38th Parallel North, which splits the Korean Peninsula almost in half, it was the original boundary between the US-controlled and Communist-controlled areas of Korea at the end of World War II.

After the establishment of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the Republic of Korea in 1948, it became a de facto international border and one of the tensest stand-offs in the Cold War, as it remains today.

The prospect of such a rare opportunity has created an atmosphere of excitement among team Bermuda.

“Some of us are very nervous but as far as I’m concerned it really can’t be that bad,” Adam predicts.

“I just think it will be really interesting to have the chance to see the zone — how many people can claim such a first hand experience?”

Their chaperones, Jennifer Haworth, president of BDS and Trevor Leitch, its treasurer and main coach, both past debaters themselves, will accompany the group. “I certainly think our team is definitely prepared and they have equipped themselves well for this tournament,” Mr. Leitch reflected.

“What I’m looking from them is to see personal development on each of their individual skills and to see that they’re really engaging the debate, rather than running their own individual arguments.

“One of the great things about debate is that it requires as much if not more, listening than speaking and if we get that out of the team while out in Korea, it’s mission accomplished.”

Mrs. Haworth expressed optimism over the performance of the youngsters and said those who have attended past WSDC debates have an advantage that will solidify their chances of putting Bermuda on the map.

She added: “We have three students out of the five that participated in last year’s international debate, which is a great advantage because once you’ve had the opportunity to go, it’s a big help.”

Responding to what some would describe as a lack of interest among youth in Bermuda in engaging in a valuable aptitude as debating, Mrs. Haworth enlightened its positive effects in a society loaded with less conventional alternatives.

“Debate is a fantastic tool, not only in high school, but it helps you to achieve things that you want in terms of better grades — it’s a life skill,” she encouraged.

“It’s something that you can bring to your job, no matter what it is, because having those kind of skills helps you to better communicate, which is a good skill to have in Bermuda.

“We see a lot of public debate going on lately and the students that are participating now will be better equipped than some of their peers in dealing with life issues. They’ll do better because of their training in debate — it certainly helped me in a vast area — I am a lawyer — and debating is invaluable.”

Thanks to five corporate sponsors, nearly 95 percent of the costs for the expedition have been covered and that shows the private sector’s support for the Island’s development, according to the Mrs. Haworth.

“We essentially wrote to a number of institutions, explaining what the tournament is all about, what the trip would mean for the students who would get to go and asked them to support it as a project,” she said.

Gold level sponsor, Bank of Bermuda Foundation, Silver level sponsors, English Speaking Union, Deloitte and Renaissance Re and Bronze level sponsor, Ariel Re, have supported this year’s initiative.

The BDS is a registered charity and consists of roughly 15 student debaters and an executive committee — all of whom are professional adults that volunteer their time to the independent programme.

Any interested high school pupils from the private and public sectors can join the BDS, simply by e-mailing Jennifer Haworth at jhaworth@logic.bm.