To be yourself or mask your identity on social networking sites - this is what 40 Class XI and XII students of 20 schools in Jamshedpur debated on Wednesday.

Narbheram Hansraj English School, Jamshedpur, hosted its first annual inter-school NHES Debate on its Bistupur campus on Wednesday with a provocative and contemporary topic - 'People should be allowed to obscure their identities online'.

Each school team had two speakers, one speaking for the motion and another against. Each speaker got four minutes to speak. Two minutes was allotted for rebuttal. The debate was moderated by management consultant Dicky Mody.

Those for the motion asked, what's in a name?

Avinash Kumar of DAV Public School argued anonymity was not a crime. "I think my identity does not matter. What matters are my ideas and beliefs. At times real identity raises the risk of cyber bullying. Therefore, I think it is better to be known only among friends," he said.

DBMS English School student Shilpy Agarwal disagreed. She said being obscure or anonymous meant more inappropriate posts and rumours that affected social peace. She supported her arguments against the motion by citing many suicide cases over cyber bullying from people with fake IDs.

Her schoolmate Divya Shekhar Bhatta Mishra, who spoke for the motion suggested probable solutions. "The problem of cyber bully can be solved if a profile's online activities are observed and monitored regularly. We should have the freedom not to disclose our real identities, but online activities should be monitored to curb cyber crimes and anti-social posts," said Divya.

Little Flower School team of Ankit Jha and Akash Mukhopadhyay won the debate. Loyola School's Swayam Prodipto Banerjee and Ritika Prasad were the runners-up. Ankit, who spoke for the motion, was also adjudged the best speaker. Winners received medals and certificates.