On Friday, February 21st, students from six different high schools across South Tyrol gathered at the Sozialwissenschaftliches Gymnasium in Bozen to take part in this year’s debating competition.

Representing our school, Ida Tapfer, Mia Mair am Tinkhof, and Emma Hofer (3CS) joined teams composed of randomly selected participants from other schools.

The initial three motions up for debate were:

“Social media platforms should be held legally accountable for promoting body shaming.”

“Development aid should be contingent upon the respect of fundamental human rights.”

“EU military expenditure should be raised by 30% to secure independent defence in today’s geopolitical climate.”

The final round featured the top two teams from the preliminary debates, who discussed the motion “a ceiling should be set on the number of tourist beds in South Tyrol for the next ten years” with Emma Hofer contributing to the winning team’s success. Emma and her team will have the opportunity to debate against the best teams from Trentino as part of the Festival dell’ Economia in Trento.

All three students from Walther von der Vogelweide impressed with their outstanding critical thinking skills, their confidence, and their language proficiency!

Congratulations to Mia, Ida, and Emma!