CEDA started in the West and has a stronghold there. In some areas of the West, N.D.T. has virtually died out, according to several coaches. Although the number of students participating in debate has dropped since its heyday in the 1950s and 60s, more are participating now than were just over a decade ago, according to Mr. Rhodes and others. One thing neither side argues about is the value of debate for students who participate in it.
Students gain communication, research, argumentation, and analytical skills.
They learn to think on their feet, to present thoughts in a cogent, organized fashion, and to pinpoint an argument's weaknesses or where the logic breaks down. That creates a need for students to develop skills to manage time effectively reading efficiently, researching effectively, and so forth so they are able to do both. Those are the kinds of skills that are easy to identify for students that help attract newcomers to debate. Less easy to explain to the uninitiated are the more abstract but equally important benefits. I've seen how closed-minded people can get because they become attached to an argument.