CALVERTON — Saturday’s middle school tournament at Calverton Middle School drew tons of debaters from schools all over the city. There were three rounds, the first and second rounds were on the topic: “Resolved: Violent video games should be banned in the United States.” Affirmative teams presented a number of cases, but the most popular by far was that violent video games lead to real violence in young people and therefore, should be banned. Some negative teams argued there would be a potential downturn in the economy if violent video games were banned in the U.S., and others put violent video games into the context of violence in the world, thus diminishing the video games’ impact on violence stats. The third round was a special “surprise round,” testing the students on their ability to prepare arguments under pressure and without access to their evidence or research methods. The surprise topic was: “Resolved: Students should be paid to attend school.” At the end of the day, the Stadium School took home the most awards, followed by Roland Park. The first place Varsity award went to Kortaz Cheatham and Imani Smoot from Hamilton. A special reception was held for Senator Benjamin Cardin, his family and friends to honor the memory of his late son Michael Cardin. Michael’s lively spirit will be embodied in the Cardin Cup, a monthly middle school award given to a member of the Baltimore Urban Debate League family who best represents characteristics held by Michael: a brilliant mind, a generous spirit, a compassion for learning, a strong sense of sportsmanship and graciousness and a passion for life, learning and community. At this tournament, the Cardin Cup was awarded to Michael Washington, the debate coach at Winston. For pictures and results, click here