Debate topics

Educational Debate Topics

• A college degree is essential for getting a good job.
• Contact sports should be required in school.
• Education should focus on maths and science rather than music and art.
• Fast food should be banned in schools.
• Girls should be actively encouraged to enter STEM fields.
• Homeschooling is better than traditional schooling.
• Do you need homework in order to learn?
• Cell phones should be banned in schools.
• Public schools are better than private schools.
• Religion should be taught in school.
• Education should be privatized.
• Schools should have armed guards.
• Teachers should be given guns to defend students.
• Schools should teach abstinence-only sex education.
• Schools should teach LGBT+ inclusive sex education.
• School uniforms should be mandatory.
• Should standardized testing be abolished?
• Should free STD testing be offered in schools?
• Are student loans exploitative?
• Studying a second language should be compulsory.
• Boarding school is harmful for students.

Political Debate Topics

• All people should be able to own guns.
• The British Monarchy should be abolished.
• Should there be limits on the First Amendment (free speech)?
• Britain should leave the European Union.
• The US should abolish the electoral college.
• Churches should pay taxes.
• Is freedom of speech a necessity in a functional society?
• Should illegal immigrants be treated as criminals?
• Juries should include 24 jurors instead of 12.
• The country should allow more refugees to enter.
• Is owning an automatic weapon morally justifiable?
• Is patriotism ultimately destructive to international relations?
• Politics should be kept out of schools.
• Presidential terms should be limited to two years instead of four.
• All prisons should be governmentally owned and run.
• Rich people and large corporations should pay more taxes.
• Should the U.N. have a standing army?
• The U.S. should intervene in overseas conflicts.
• Is the US voting system democratic?
• Should the voting age be lowered to 16?
• Voting should be mandatory for all citizens.
• The West should lift all sanctions on Iran (or North Korea).
• Should your country make a land claim on Antarctica?

Social Debate Topics

• Abortion should be available to all women.
• Should human cloning be legalized?
• Should genetic engineering be legal?
• The government should provide free birth control.
• Companies should be required to hire 50% male and 50% female employees.
• Barbie is a good role model for young girls.
• Burning the flag should be illegal.
• The death penalty should be abolished.
• Drug use should be treated as a mental health issue rather than a criminal offense.
• Euthanasia should be legal.
• Is feminism irrelevant in the 21st century?
• Feminism should focus more on men's rights.
• Gay marriage should be legalized.
• Gay people should be allowed to adopt children.
• Is graffiti art just as worthy of regard as classical paintings?
• Healthcare should be universal.
• Should insurance cover cosmetic procedures?
• Censorship is sometimes warranted on the internet.
• Marijuana should be legalized.
• Can censorship ever be justified?
• Has the #MeToo movement gone too far?
• The minimum wage should be lowered (or raised).
• The harms of patriotism outweigh the benefits.
• Police should be allowed to use deadly force.
• Religion does more harm than good.
• Peer pressure is a good thing.
• Drug addicts should be helped rather than punished.
• Sex work should be legal.
• Smoking should be banned.
• Social media does more harm than good.
• Is privacy important?

Environmental Debate Topics

• Climate change is the greatest threat in human history.
• Companies should be taxed on their carbon emissions and other negative environmental impact.
• Plastic bags and packaging should be banned.
• Everyone should be vegetarian.
• Genetically modified foods (GMOs) should be banned.
• Fracking should be banned.
• Live animal exports should be banned.
• More land should be dedicated as national parks.
• Is organic farming the future of agriculture?
• Is the Paris Agreement relevant anymore?
• The sale of fur should be banned.
• Is tourism beneficial to an environment?
• Zoos should be banned.

Technology Debate Topics

• Will the development of artificial intelligence harm or benefit humankind?
• Are robots going to increase or decrease our quality of life?
• Artificial intelligence is dangerous.
• Is technology going to save the world. . . or kill it?
• Is the use of technology changing people for the better. . . or worse?
• Is technology making people dumber. . . or smarter?
• Is technology the opposite of nature? (Are technology and nature diametrically opposed?)
• Should humans colonize other planets?
• Have social media benefitted or harmed people’s social lives?
• Do social media improve or impede communication?
• Should a person's social media be considered by school admissions, police investigations, and potential employers?
• What's better: traditional or online education?
• All cars should be electric.
• Should individuals own their own DNA?

More Controversial Debate and Argumentative Essay Topics

• Should alcohol be sold after 10 pm?
• Alternative medicines should be banned.
• Can animal testing be justified?
• Beauty pageants should be banned.
• Is bad parenting to blame for childhood obesity?
• Children should be exposed to technology.
• Dance should be considered a sport.
• Advertising should be banned during children's programs.
• Should fines be scaled depending on income?
• Gaming should be considered a sport.
• Human cloning should be legalized.
• Parents should be able to refuse medical treatment for their children.
• Parents should be able to choose the sex of their child.
• Parents should limit the amount of time their children spend on technology.
• Pop music is the best kind of music.
• Unpaid internships should be against the law.
• Violent video games should be banned.

https://owlcation.com/academia/100-Debate-Topics