MOTION: THE INTERNET DOES MORE HARM THAN GOOD

OPPOSITION TEAM

1-1 DEBATE

Thank you Mr. Speaker, A very good afternoon to the respected speaker, honourable adjudicators, precise timekeeper, my worthy opponent and members of the parliament. I, the opposition strongly and wholeheartedly disagree with today’s motion which is this house believes that the internet does more harm than good. Prove it and refute it if I am wrong. Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to refute the definition given by the government team, according to the 7th edition of Oxford Advance Learner’s Dictionary, internet means an international computer network connecting other networks and computers from companies, universities, etc. While the word more means a larger number or amount of something. Harm is a damage or injury that is caused by a person or an event, while good means something that which gives benefit, profit, advantages, etc. So our overall definition of today’s motion is an international computer network connecting other networks and computers bring a larger amount of damage than gives benefit, profit and advantages.

However, as I mentioned earlier, I as the opposition highly disagree with the motion today. Now, ladies and gentleman, allow me to rebut on the points laid out by the government speaker just now. Well, the

government speaker has said that ____________________.

Now on my first argument, it is well-known that the resources offered in the schools, colleges, universities or even in the state libraries are quite limited. Students can easily become demotivated when they have to go through the hard way to acquire knowledge. In fact, access to the internet removes this hindrance faced by students. Through the internet, students could find many beneficial resources from historical to scientific data. Moreover, the internet also makes the process of acquiring materials much quicker than the traditional method. Students can browse numerous sources in just one sitting instead of flipping through books in the library for hours which is not only boring but also tiring. Furthermore, Smith Lawrence, a professor, in his research stated that students are learning better and faster with this new technology. It has boosted students’ problem-solving skills and thinking skills. Is this what you call harmful, my worthy opponent? Please think twice.

Besides, the internet is very important for communication. By using the internet, communicating with friends around the world is as easy and cheap as communicating with friends across town. There are many services offered in the net that actually aides in developing students’ communication skill such as websites, emails, instant-messages and chat rooms. When using internet to communicate, students can expand their social network. Their friends not only limited to those at school. Furthermore, Lenhart, Rainie, and Lewis, professors from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) reported in their research that internet plays an important role in maintaining and improving relationships with friends, family members and teachers or professors. So it is stated how important the internet is in terms of communication.

Moreover, the internet provides entertainment for the community. By using the internet, online games can be installed and can be played wherever we felt tired. The role of an online game is very important as it release and reduce our tension, stress and pressure. A study, conducted at Queen Mary University of London and University College London, is based on psychological tests conducted before and after 72 volunteers played "Starcraft" or the life-simulation game "The Sims" for 40 hours over six to eight weeks. They found that participants assigned to play "Starcraft" experienced gains in their performance on psychological tests, completing cognitive flexibility tasks with greater speed and accuracy.

Therefore, ladies and gentlemen, members of the parliament, I as the opposition team would like to reaffirm my stand that the internet does more harm than good. I pretty hope you will have the same thinking so

as I after you heard my arguments. With that, I rest my case. Thank you.

POI – Internet provide false information

The internet gives millions of people access to information they would not otherwise have had, which is a huge benefit. And people who read the news online are not that easy to fool. Especially when you spend a lot of time online, you can tell bloggers who just want to shout from bloggers who carefully refer to their sources. The type of people this

argument worries about are not the type of people that read high quality newspapers in the first place, they would read the trashy ones. The problem of bad information and news making is not unique to the

internet; there are lots of trashy magazines as well. We learn in schools to double-check our sources and not believe everything we read, and we

can apply that skill whilst surfing the internet.

POI – Hackings / No Privacy

You are the first and most important person to protect your own privacy. Don’t fill in private information, if you don’t want people to know about it. There are laws protecting you from websites that just

sell on your information, but if you give personal information out without being sure that it will be properly used you only have yourself

to blame.

POI – Addiction

There is nothing wrong with sitting indoors. It’s better to sit indoors and actively research and surf online than to sit in front of a television

and passively take in what the TV Company decided you should watch. 20 years ago people used to worry kids spent too much time inside

watching TV, but viewing hours have dropped as people choose to use the internet instead. There are lots of educational games and news sites we can browse around and learn from in much more effective way than television could ever provide. Furthermore, many people keep up their

social contacts online. Saying they cannot appreciate a nice conversation, or a good book is just a wild claim.

POI – Phishing

It is unfortunate that people who are willing to help have been abused by others. However, there have been many campaigns that raise

awareness about phishing. Governments and banks have provided guidelines about how to recognize phishers. We should firmly deal with

the crime of phishing, but not forget how much easier our life has become now that we can do our financial business online and via bank

cards.

POI - Online Business for Big Companies

The internet has brought greater prosperity, allowing lots of different businesses to set up online. This has brought a lot more choice to

ordinary people, and also driven down prices as people find it easier to compare different companies’ products. Small businesses can cheaply set up online and find a market for their goods and services. And by

making it easier to work anywhere with an internet connection, it has allowed many more people to work from home and to share out

projects with co-workers over the whole world.

POI – Cyber Bully

Actually, bully cases happen everywhere. It is just the matter on how many cases happened compare from a normal bully to a cyber bully. According to one large study carried out by Bradshaw, C.P., Sawyer,

A.L., and O’Brennan, L.M. on 2007, the following percentages of middle schools students had experienced these various types of

bullying: name calling (44.2 %); teasing (43.3 %); spreading rumors or lies (36.3%); pushing or shoving (32.4%); hitting, slapping, or kicking (29.2%); leaving out (28.5%); threatening (27.4%); stealing belongings (27.3%); sexual comments or gestures (23.7%); e-mail or blogging that

are classified as cyber bully (9.9%).