The Debate Club

WHAT?
- A debate is basically a formal discussion, where TWO opposing points are shared, discussed, and
voted on.
- It is a way of respectfully talking and listening to each other.

WHY?
- Debate is a civilized, meaningful way to get your point across.
- It promotes problem-solving, critical thinking, and creativity.
- It helps create a respectful, positive environment within which we may talk about just about
anything.
- It allows us to give some time to think about things that we may initially not agree with.
- It helps us respect each other, even though we may not agree on everything.
- It helps us form stronger, more informed opinions on topics that we believe (or don’t believe) in.

HOW?
1. Choose a topic
2. Divide class into two teams, one essentially “supporting” the topic, and the other “opposing” it.
3. Each team should have four pieces of paper to take notes, one for the argument, and one for the
rebuttal. The additional two papers are for the judges to take notes to help them reach a final
ruling.
4. Each team should have a group of speakers and notetakers. There should also be at least two
judges, whether it is teachers or students.
5. After ample preparation time, the debate will go as follows:
I. Opening statements
II. 1st argument (for)
III. 1st argument (against)
IV. Rebuttal (for)
V. Rebuttal (against)
VI. Closing statements
6. There is an option of a 2nd argument, which can be conducted after the 1st argument, and before
the rebuttals.
7. Judges should be taking notes throughout the entire debate, and may be given time to reach a
final verdict.
 RULES
1. Always be respectful.
2. Allow others to speak if you want to be heard.
3. Regardless what we believe, we are still one team/family

List of interesting debate topics

School

It’s better to be good at academics than to be good at sports.

Homework should be banned.

Schools should require all students to wear uniforms.

We should punish students for using curse words.

Technology

Playing violent video games makes people more likely to be violent in real life.

Students should be allowed to use phones in class.

Students should not be allowed to watch TV on school nights.

Social media does more harm than good.

Reading books is better than watching TV.

Playing video games makes you smarter.

Life & Ethics

People have a responsibility to help one another out.

Girls face more peer pressure than boys.

Happiness is more important than success

Funny

All families should have a pet.

Dogs are better pets than cats.

Summer is better than winter.

Pepperoni is the best pizza topping.

Teachers shouldn’t give rewards and prizes in the classroom.

Clowns are more scary than funny.