"Parents are responsible for students' poor performance."

There were two debates scheduled this past term; the other topic, something along the lines of "teenage pregnancy is the girls' fault," was cancelled due to a sports competition. I'd hoped it would be rescheduled, alas, no.

For the motion:

• Parents are not encouraging or giving support at home. 
• Parents are not providing money for materials like textbooks and pencils. 
• Parents are taking domestic work as the priority for their children. 
• Parents support their children against their teacher to the extent of taking the teachers to the police (this is a problem because the teachers are trying to discipline the students so that they can teach them) 
• “My final point, that I want to release,” was something neither I nor the moderator, who summarized the arguments, could understand, a mumbled mess that I could see why someone would want to release because imagine keeping that inside of you. 
• Parents have a reluctance to pay school fees, especially for the girl child. 
• “Domestic work, in which student can sustain tardiness” also prevents students from studying at night. Parents deny child to go to study class. 
• Some men will have more than one wife and this will cause arguing which will disturb the student. Parents are not supportive. 
• Parents don’t answer teachers’ calls to discuss issues like poor performance and absenteeism. 
• Parents have a lack of concern and are not persuading students to commit to education. 
• “Poor parental care.” 
• If parents do not control the child, “leaving her like a butterfly” to watch television, spend time with boys, attend programs... 
• Lack of learning materials. 
• Students need good food to participate and perform well in class. 
• Students need to sleep well. 
• Students need ample time for studies. 
• Parents not concerned because the money for girls’ school feels is not coming from their pocket.

Against the motion:

• Equality of mankind. 
• Diversity of human being.
•  Lack of quality teachers. 
• Students are watching films instead of studying. 
• Parents struggle and deny pleasures in order to pay school fees. 
• Every parent wishes the best for their children. 
• Domestic work can’t be taken as excuse because that’s what parents use to pay for students’ education. 
• “You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink. Parents have done their best taking us to school, but they cannot open the head and put in the knowledge.” 
• “We are choosing to be failures in life.” 
• “In these modern times, as soon as the children grow-up, especially the girls, they start fumbling with the boys in the street...What will you do when your belly starts to show? Abortion is not allowed...Pregnancy outside of marriage is not tolerated Islamically.” You will not be on “the smiling side of tomorrow.”
• Students dodge school and get impregnated. 
• Parents buy pens, books, shoes and provide students with food, clothes and shelter.