''They get to pull the parent card, which you can't usually pull in debating.
''I try not to argue with them too much.''
The Columba College pupil recently represented Otago at the Russell McVeagh New Zealand Schools' Debating Championships in Wellington, and now she has been named as a member of the five-person Russell McVeagh New Zealand Schools' Debating Team which will compete at the World Schools' Debating Championships in Singapore in July.
Other members of the New Zealand team are team captain Georgina Lomax-Sawyers (Buller High School), Shakked Noy (Wellington High School), Peter McKenzie (Scots College) and Rhaz Solomon (Wanganui High School).
Emily was both excited about her selection and surprised, mainly because she has only been debating for the past 18 months.
But New Zealand Schools' Debating Council president and tournament organiser Josh Baxter said she debated consistently well throughout the New Zealand championships, and would be ''a fine representative'' for New Zealand.
''Emily is a funny and fiery debater,'' he said.
Emily was selected for the Otago-Southland team after representing Columba College at the Otago Regional Competition in March this year.
Teams from Wellington, Auckland, Canterbury, Otago-Southland, Hawkes Bay, Northland, Central North Island, Waikato and Kahurangi-Marlborough took part in seven preliminary rounds of debates during the national championships, confronting issues including whether criminal trials should be televised, whether alternative medicine should be banned, and whether President Obama deserved the Nobel Peace Prize.
Wellington beat Auckland in the grand final.
