Middle School Debate Topics

by Melissa Kelly
Updated October 12, 2017

Debates are a wonderful, high-interest way to teach a number of skills to students. They
provide students with the ability to research a topic, work as a team, practice public
speaking skills, and use critical thinking skills. Holding debates in middle school
classes can be especially rewarding despite the challenges that go along with teaching
tweens. These students enjoy debating as it provides variety and allows them to become
passionately involved with an assigned topic.

Middle School Debate Topics

Following is a list of topics that would be appropriate for use in middle

schoolclassrooms. As you read through these you will see that some are more
appropriate for specific curriculum areas while others can be used in classes across the
board. Each item is listed as a proposition. You will assign one team this proposition
and the opposing team would argue the opposite.

1. All students should have daily chores.

2. Every home should have a pet.
3. Every student should play a musical instrument.
4. Homework should be banned.
5. School uniforms should be required.
6. Year-round education is better for students.
7. Children should not be allowed to drink soda.
8. PE should be required of all students throughout middle and high school.
9. All students should be required to volunteer in the community.
10. Corporal punishment should be allowed in schools.
11. The Internet should be banned from schools.
12. Junk food should be banned from schools.

1. All parents should be required to attend parenting classes before having a child.
2. All students should be required to learn a foreign language in middle school.
3. All museums should be free to the public.
4. Single-sex schools are better for education.
5. Students should be held legally responsible for bullying in schools.

1. Children under 14 should not be allowed on Facebook.

2. Prayer of any form should be prohibited in schools.
3. Statewide tests should be abolished.
4. All people should be vegetarians.
5. Solar energy should replace all traditional forms of energy.
6. Zoos should be abolished.
7. It is sometimes right for the government to restrict freedom of speech.
8. Human cloning should be banned.
9. Science fiction is the best form of fiction. (Or any form of fiction of your
choosing)
10. Macs are better than PCs
11. Androids are better than iPhones
12. The moon should be colonized.
13. Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) should be banned.
14. All students should be required to take a cooking class.
15. All students should be required to take a shop or practical arts class.
16. All students should be required to take a performing arts class.
17. All students should be required to learn sewing.
18. Democracy is the best form of government.
19. America should have a king and not a president.
20. All citizens should be required to vote.
21. The death penalty is an appropriate penalty for certain crimes.
22. Sports stars are paid too much money.
23. The right to bear arms is a necessary constitutional amendment.
24. Students should never be forced to repeat a year at school.
25. Grades should be abolished.
26. All individuals should pay the same tax rate.

1. Teachers should be replaced by computers.

2. Students should be allowed to skip grades in school.
3. The voting age should be lowered.
4. Individuals who share music online should be put in jail.
5. Video games are too violent.
6. Students should be required to learn about poetry.
7. History is an important subject in school.
8. Students should not be required to show their work in math.
9. Students should not be graded on their handwriting.
10. America should give more money to other countries.
11. Every home should have a robot.
12. The government should provide wireless service for everyone.
13. School pictures should be abolished.
14. Smoking should be banned.
15. Recycling should be required.
16. Children should not watch television on school nights.
17. Performance enhancing drugs should be allowed in sports.
18. Parents should be allowed to choose their baby's gender.

1. Education is the key to future success.

12 brilliant debate topics for kids

Want to get your child’s brain working? Debating is a great way to do it. We share some challenging
questions to trigger their thought processes.
5

Some children seem to have opinions about anything, and don’t hesitate to share them. Others are more
reticent, and have to be persuaded to share their viewpoints.

But whichever camp your child falls into, debating can have many benefits, including improving their
communication and listening skills, building confidence and self-esteem and broadening their
horizons.
We asked Ian Gilbert, author of The Compleat Thunks Book (Independent Thinking Press), to share some
brilliant, thought-provoking debate topics (or, as he calls them, ‘Thunks’) that kids will love getting their
heads around.

1. Is it right to bully a bully?

Children have an innate sense of what is right and wrong, but it can be very binary.

Their world is full of goodies and baddies through stories and films, but life is more complex than that.

This topic allows them a peek into another world where good and bad still exist but the lines are not quite
so clear.

2. Does a dog mind what you stroke it with?

Children are prone to anthropomorphism, imbuing animals with human qualities.

This Thunk encourages them to explore to what extent dogs – a proxy for all animals, in many ways –
have feelings beyond simple ones such as pleasure.

It also throws up the question of whether dogs and other animals have minds at all.

3. Should you say ‘thank you’ to a robot waiter?

We teach children to be polite, but for whose sake?

Is being polite something you do to make yourself feel accepted in society, or is something that we should
do for the benefit of the person – or otherwise – we are being polite to?

This topic also throws up the notion of robot consciousness and ‘rights,’ especially in a world where
we’ve just seen the first robot gain national citizenship, in Saudi Arabia.

4. Can anything be a toy?

The connection between toys and children runs deep, but these days, we can end up thinking that a toy is
something that is made by someone else, and made to be a toy.

Children love discussing toy questions, and this one raises issues around ownership as well as purpose
and design and the nature of play.
Follow-up questions for those who answer ‘yes’ might include, ‘Can air be a toy?’ or ‘Can another human
be a toy?’

5. Can a pregnant woman ever be alone?

The ideas of consciousness, what it is to be human and what it is to be alive can be discussed here.

A good topic for older children, this might trigger other controversial issues to do with women’s rights.
Important issues can be explored in a non-moralistic and safe way.

6. Is being scared of nothing worse than being scared of everything?

The concept of bravery can be almost stereotypical with children: boys are brave and they protect girls.

TV and books are full of this view, but maybe the ‘scared girl’ is doing the right things, and the ‘big brave
male’ is making things worse.

And is being scared a good or a bad thing in the first place?

7. Is it unlucky if your cat does a poo in the shower tray?

This question comes from my own family’s personal experience, and still vexes us!

Again, the binary nature of children’s thinking can be challenged here. Are things either bad or good?
Can things be neither? Can something be both good and bad, and how does that work?

8. Does a parent own his or her children?

Issues of ownership are important to children. So what is ownership – is it a right? Is it ‘God given’ or do
you earn it? At what age do children stop being ‘owned’, if at all?

If parents own their children, can they legitimately sell them? And can a father ‘give away’ his daughter?

9. Do you have the same number of thoughts each day?

Children like to explore what is going on in their heads (for younger children, often out loud!).

Encouraging them to think about their thinking means we open them up to the idea of ‘metacognition,’
which has been shown to be helpful for academic success and wellbeing.

Where do thoughts come from? Where do they go? Can you count thoughts and, if you can’t, is it because
you humanly can’t count them (like stars) or because they’re uncountable (like water)?

10. Can a blind person be racist?

It’s said that children don’t see colour, so is it the sight of difference that provokes feelings of distrust and
dislike?

Is racism something that is inherent, or is it taught, and if so, by whom and why?

Can you be accidentally racist, and if so, should job interviews and political debates be held ‘blind,’ rather
like the judging system they use in The Voice, so we’re not influenced by skin colour?

11. Were you loved less when your young brother or sister came along?

This is bound to cause a heated discussion, even if your children are all grown up!

Of course, all parents will deny this, so a follow-up question might be, ‘where does the extra love come
from?’

This also raises questions about the nature of love. Is it something you feel, or something you do? Is it
something you give, or something you receive? And do you love different things not only in different
ways but with different sorts of love (like the Greeks attested)?

12. If you put a mirror next to a candle in a dark room, do you now have twice as much
light?

A topic that encourages children to look around them and think deeply about the natural world.

Whereas some Thunks explore abstract concepts, they can also be used to open our eyes to the world
around us; a world that we can easily take for granted unless we ask questions like this.

Other similar Thunks include, ‘Does the light come out upside down if I turn my torch upside down?’ and
‘Does the music come out upside down if I turn my speaker upside down?’
SPEECH AND DEBATE TOPICS FOR
KIDS
NOVEMBER 18, 2013 KIDSWORLDFUN 17 COMMENTS

Speech and debate instills confidence on kids and it

enables them to become good communicators. You
know good communicators rule the world. So
develop your language skills especially speaking
skills. Public speaking activities provide an
opportunity for kids to develop creative thinking,
conduct research and analysis and get up-to-date on
latest news.

Parents always wish to make their kids speaks up

before an audience or a group of people. By finding out some interesting speech topics, you can
encourage your kids to explore and exhibit their oratory skills. There are wide categories of
speech topics available for kids including informative, demonstrative, and persuasive speech
topics. You can choose from topics such as arts and culture, animals / birds, hobbies or interests,
social issues, fun topics and sports and games.

Before choosing the topic it is important to take into account the occasion of the speech as well
as the age and ability of your kid. If there is an event or a specific celebration in school, the
speech topic you select should be related to the significance of that specific event. If your kid is
going to participate for a speech competition, you should provide a set of topics to choose from.
Start speech with good and relevant short stories. Use appropriate quotes to make the speech
more attractive. In such cases, choose the right topic based on the occasion and the type of
listeners you have.
Here are some interesting speech topic ideas for your kids:

 First day experience at school

 My favorite trip
 My dream or future ambitions
 Good manners
 Favorite book or character
 Significance of cultural festivals / my favorite festival
 Best summer sport
 My favorite food
 Table manners
 Healthy food
 Nature conservation
 Favorite pet
 Environmental problems
 About stars
Debates are considered as one of the most efficient teaching tools for kids as it increases the
depth of knowledge and also improves their self-esteem and confidence. In a debate, a discussion
is taking place between two people or team, with different viewpoints. To make a good debate, it
is important to keep the audience who get involved and get final decision.

When it comes to choose a debate topic, children need to research on various topics and practice
well for their public speaking. From casual school debates and in extremely competitive debates,
children have to follow a debate format. Here are some interesting debate topics which you can
choose for your kid’s next school competition:

 School uniforms are good or bad

 Homework is good for students
 Bottled water is harmful
 Mobile phones in school should be banned
 Vegetarian food is better than non-vegetarian food
 Aliens are not real
 Junk food eating is not good
 Life exists after death
 Video games are not good for children
 Social media and students
 Grading system should be abolished in schools
 Smoking should be banned
A good debate topic can be anything from informative, social, economical, funny or political.
For any debates to be effective, they should include the advantages and disadvantages of
different issues. While choosing a debate topic it is important to keep in mind the maturity and
understanding level of your kid and should be interesting to the targeted audience.