https://owlcation.

com/academia/100-Debate-Topics
Educational Debate Topics
 A college degree is essential for getting a good job.
 Are student loans exploitative?
 All students should have to purchase a laptop.
 Boarding school is harmful for students.
 Cell phones should be banned in schools.
 College should be free for everyone.
 Contact sports should be required in school.
 Do you need homework in order to learn?
 Education should be privatized.
 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.
 Public schools are better than private schools.
 Religion should be taught in schools.
 Should free STD testing be offered in schools?
 Schools should have armed guards.
 Schools should teach abstinence-only sex education?
 Schools should teach LGBT+ inclusive sex education?
 Should standardized testing be abolished?
 School uniforms should be mandatory.
 Studying a second language should be compulsory.
 Teachers should be given guns to defend students.
 Teachers should be paid as much as doctors.

Political Debate Topics

 All people should be able to own guns.
 All prisons should be governmentally owned and run.
 Britain should leave the European Union.
 Churches should pay taxes.
 Communism is not a good political ideology.
 Is freedom of speech a necessity in a functional society?
 Is owning an automatic weapon morally justifiable?
 Is patriotism ultimately destructive to international relations?
 Is the US voting system democratic?
 Juries should include 24 jurors instead of 12.
 Politics should be kept out of schools.
 Presidential terms should be limited to two years instead of four.
 Rich people and large corporations should pay more taxes.
 Should illegal immigrants be treated as criminals?
 Should the U.N. have a standing army?
  Should the voting age be lowered to 16?
 Should there be limits on the First Amendment (free speech)?
 Should your country make a land claim on Antarctica?
 The British Monarchy should be abolished.
 The country should allow more refugees to enter.

 The U.S. should intervene in overseas conflicts.

 The US should abolish the electoral college.
 The West should lift all sanctions on Iran (or North Korea).
 Voting should be mandatory for all citizens.

Social Debate Topics

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

Environmental Debate Topics

 Animals should have the same rights as humans.
 Climate change is the greatest threat in human history.
 Companies should be taxed on their carbon emissions and other negative
environmental impacts.
 Everyone should be vegetarian.
 Fracking should be banned.
 Genetically modified foods (GMOs) should be banned.
 Is organic farming the future of agriculture?
 Is the Paris Agreement relevant anymore?
 Is tourism beneficial to an environment?
 Live animal exports should be banned.
 More land should be dedicated as national parks.
 Nuclear energy is the solution to the overconsumption of fossil fuels.
 Plastic bags and packaging should be banned.
 The best way to combat climate change is for individuals to reduce their carbon
footprint.
 The sale of fur should be banned.
 Zoos should be banned.

Technology Debate Topics

 All cars should be electric.
 Are robots going to increase or decrease our quality of life?
 Artificial intelligence is dangerous.
 Does social media improve or impede communication?
 Has social media benefitted or harmed people’s social lives?
 Is technology going to save the world. . . or kill it?
 Is technology making people dumber. . . or smarter?
 Is technology the opposite of nature? (Are technology and nature diametrically
opposed?)
 Is the use of technology changing people for the better. . . or worse?
 Should a person's social media be considered by school admissions, police
investigations, and potential employers?
 Should humans colonize other planets?
 Should individuals own their own DNA?
 Robots should have rights.
 Technology will be man's downfall.
 We should invest more money into space exploration.
 What's better: traditional or online education?
 Will the development of artificial intelligence harm or benefit humankind?
More Controversial Debate and Argumentative Essay
Topics
 Advertising should be banned during children's programs.
 Alternative medicines should be banned.
 Beauty pageants should be banned.
 Can animal testing be justified?
 Children should be exposed to technology.
 Dance should be considered a sport.
 Gaming should be considered a sport.
 Human cloning should be legalized.
 Is bad parenting to blame for childhood obesity?
 Parents should be able to choose the sex of their child.
 Parents should be able to choose their child's hair color.
 Parents should be able to refuse medical treatment for their children.
 Parents should limit the amount of time their children spend on technology.
 Pop music is the best kind of music.
 Should alcohol be sold after 10 pm?
 Should fines be scaled depending on income?
 Reality television is harming society.
 Unpaid internships should be against the law.
 Violent video games should be banned.