Maho: --- The audience and judges in both rounds of last night's debate were kept on the edge as both teams who participated in both rounds of the second night debating competition came prepared. The Leeward Island Debating Competition began on Thursday night and will last until Sunday.
The Maho convention center indeed came alive during the first round when the St. Maarten team debated against Nevis on the moot "Religion should be a compulsory part of the Caribbean School Curricula".
Representing St. Maarten was Kevin James and Johnicia Joseph on the proposing team while Joanne Fleming and Michele Slack McGrath represented Nevis on the opposing end.
It was clear from the inception that St. Maarten was going to come out the winner as Kevin James the only male on the team took command of the audience as he represented the moot. James made clear that having religion as a compulsory course would help to shape youths both in and outside of school. He pointed out that the Caribbean nation would not have to re-invent the wheels since religious guidance is already part of the Caribbean Examination Council guidelines. Having such a subject also would enable students to better understand and know their peers religious culture and beliefs and help reduce the rate of crime and youth delinquency. St. Maarten came out with 649 points while Nevis just behind with 617 points. Best speaker of the night went to James who captivated the attention of the audience. James also received credits for taking the stance he does in education. Chief Judge Dencio Bryson in his congratulatory message to James said that normally men have taken the back seat in education but James he said displayed stark qualities in his beliefs. The other judges were Drs. Leopold James and Cedric Hodge.The opposing team argued that making religion compulsory would influence discrimination and most of all would put added pressure on students who already have a heavy work load. With thorough research they showed that Islands like Jamaica and Trinidad has the highest crime rates even though most schools in Jamaica are from a religious background. However, information provided by the team did not sit well with the Jamaican audience who said that taking statistics from Jamaica is not representing the entire Caribbean. The Jamaicans displayed some outrage since they felt the opposing team did base their arguments from the negativity of Jamaica. Order had to be brought to the floor by the moderator when the discussions became somewhat uncontrollable.
During the third debate between the British Virgin Islands and Antigua the four young ladies on the team made sure they dug deep into each others culture. The moot for that debate was "A politician personal lifestyle should be considered when determining suitability for public office". On the proposing team representing Antigua was Tessa Marius and Alicia Ward. These two young ladies did their best to show that ones personal life determines their character and would definitely influence their decision making. They believe in such trying times politicians should not be given the opportunity to indulge in corruption as was the case in some of the islands. However, the two did not manage to convince the judge with their arguments. The BVI team who was represented by Corina Corea and Nikkea Roberts did a much better job in showing that ones personal lifestyle does not hinder their achievements in public office. Roberts in her arguments pointed out that the Antigua Prime Minister Lester Bird was no easy man, he had some 12 children outside of his two marriages yet he was declared a national hero based on his political achievements. Roberts made reference to US president Barrak Obama who was criticized for his personal choices such as smoking weed and cigars but yet he managed to rally America to come together. References were used from Bill Clinton who could not maintain his loyalty to his wife but yet he led America for eight successful years. The BVI team managed to score 615 while Antigua a mere 565. Corina Correa also from the BVI walked away with the best speaker prize with 176 points. 
The winners of last night's debate will be facing off tonight. The first round will be St. Kitts against the winner of debate 1 which was Anguilla on the moot "Polygamy is a viable alternative to prevent destructive consequences of single parent families". While St. Maarten would be debating against the BVI in the second round on the moot "Increasing Inflation rather than crime is the hindrance to Caribbean Development. 
