Academic debate teaches important skills such as critical thinking, organization, and effective communication. During a debate, teams explore arguments on both sides of a proposition. Debating allows students to develop skills like collecting and evaluating ideas, seeing logical connections, and adapting to new situations. Good debaters present information clearly without too many facts, show courtesy to opponents, and acknowledge other viewpoints. The document then outlines the structure of a sample classroom debate between two teams on whether juveniles should be tried as adults for adult crimes.