Debate Topics

Debate topics with stimulus sheets

Our stimulus sheets can be a great way to help novice debaters feel more comfortable when preparing for a debate.

• Books are better than television
• Children should be paid to go to school
• Computers should replace teachers
• Every child should have a pet
• This house would ban boxing
• This House would ban homework
• This house believes Britain should get rid of its nuclear deterrent
• This house believes that every child should have to join a sports club or team
• This house believes all 10 year olds should have a mobile phone
• We should ban junk food for children
• Competitive sports should not be played in schools
• We should ban cars from city centres
• All police officers should carry guns
• The voting age should be lowered to 12
• There should be children and teenagers in government
• London is a great place for teenagers to live
• Britain should leave the European Union
• This house believes that we shouldn’t teach art and music in schools
• Children should be allowed mobile phones in school
• Children should only get pocket money if they do their chores
• Elizabeth II should be the last British monarch

• Sports stars are bad role models for young people
• We should scrap SATs
• We should ban violent video games
• We should all be vegetarian
• We should only eat food produced in Britain
• Children can make a big difference to the environment
• All secondary schools should be co-educational
• We support a manned mission to Mars
• There should be a curfew for under-sixteens
• This House believes community service is a better punishment than prison for non-violent crimes
• This House would ban scientific testing on animals
• This House looks forward to the London Olympics
• School uniforms should be abolished
• Footballers are paid too much money
• We should shut down zoos

All topics

• This house believes all 10 year olds should have a mobile phone
• Teachers should not tell their pupils which party they will vote for
• School Uniform Policies Should Be Gender Neutral
• It is worse to eat too much than to eat too little
• We should ban junk food for children
• Competitive sports should not be played in schools
• We should ban cars from city centres
• The voting age should be lowered to 12
• All police officers should carry guns
• First past the post electoral systems should be reformed
• International adoption should be banned
• It is better to live in the countryside
• Scientists should be ethically responsible for the consequences of their research
• The world would be a better place if more women were in charge
• Teen defendants should be judged by teen juries
• Books should be realistic not fantastical
• Film versions are never as good as the original books
• We should stop giving prizes for the arts
• Schools should be responsible for children’s moral education
• The UK should welcome a visit from President Trump
• Peaceful protest achieves nothing
• The NHS should be privatised
• There should be children and teenagers in government
• Giving is better than receiving
• Extremist political parties should be banned
• New immigrants should have to swear an “oath of integration”
• We should donate to charities that support humans over those that support animals
• The US president should be elected by popular vote
• Voting should be compulsory
• London is a great place for teenagers to live
• Britain should leave the European Union
• This house believes that we shouldn’t teach art and music in schools
• Children should be allowed mobile phones in school
• Seventy years on, the United Nations is a disappointment
• The minimum wage should be replaced by the living wage
• Children should not start school until they are seven years old
• Britain should maintain its nuclear deterrent
• The electorate should not care about a politician’s youth
• Affluent nations should accept more refugees
• All children should attend a summer school
• It is better to be a teacher than a pupil
• Elizabeth II should be the last British monarch
• Children should only get pocket money if they do their chores
• We would welcome robots into our homes
• The NHS should fund alternative medical treatments
• We should ban plastic carrier bags
• We should blow up boats used for trafficking immigrants across the Mediterranean
• Sports stars are bad role models for young people
• We should scrap SATs
• Nobody should have to wear school uniform
• We should ban violent video games
• Party leaders should be required to take part in pre-election debates
• Scientists should be responsible for the ethical consequences of their work
• Individuals should not be allowed to have bonfires in their gardens
• There has never been a better time to be a woman
• Childhood vaccinations should be compulsory
• We should allow the creation of babies with three parents
• Alcohol harms society more than illegal drugs The world will be a better place at the end of 2015 than at the start
• We should all be vegetarian
• We should only eat food produced in Britain
• Children can make a big difference to the environment
• All secondary schools should be co-educational
• We support a manned mission to Mars
• There should be a curfew for under-sixteens
• This House believes community service is a better punishment than prison for non-violent crimes
• This House would ban scientific testing on animals
• England should have its own parliament
• Scotland should be independent
• Unhealthy food should not feature in children’s television programmes
• We should fine parents when their children don’t do their homework
• Pubs should be allowed to open late to show World Cup matches
• The rich should pay a lot more tax
• The use of television cameras in courtrooms should be supported
• Space exploration is a waste of money
• Science is the answer to our problems
• Parents should be allowed to use technology to choose characteristics of their babies
• Animal testing is scientifically unnecessary
• We should use more nuclear energy
• University education should be free
• Disney films provide bad role models for children
• We should ban smoking in cars when children are present
• Political leaders should boycott the Winter Olympics in Sochi
• Sugar is worse than fat
• There should be no censorship of the arts
• Prizes for the arts (such as the Booker prize or the Turner prize) should be stopped
• The Internet has done more harm than good to the arts
• Art and music should not be taught in schools except as optional extra-curricular activities
• The state should not subsidise the arts
• Child beauty pageants should be banned
• The world cannot live up to Nelson Mandela’s legacy
• We should respect the privacy of public figures
• Children should not be allowed to wear religious symbols in schools
• There should be quotas for women in top business positions
• Fireworks should be banned
• We should invest in more green energy
• The media provides poor role models to young girls
• Faith schools should not be funded by the Government
• Universities should set higher admission criteria for students from private schools
• All children should get free school meals
• No footballer is worth £85 million
• All children should be given iPads to use at school
• Are you looking forward to the new National Curriculum?
• All cities should have mayors
• We should arm Syrian rebels
• The school summer holiday should be half as long
• Online gambling should be banned
• We should invest more in space exploration
• There’s no need to read the book if you can just watch the film
• The very wealthy should pay more taxes
• Money is ruining sport
• All faiths should allow female religious leaders
• Prison should only be for violent criminals
• The BBC should be privatised
• Parents should be blamed for crimes committed by their children
• Children shouldn’t have to do chores
• Bullies should be excluded from schools
• The House of Lords should be fully elected
• Abortion should be banned
• We should elect judges
• Pupils should appoint their head teacher
• Modern art isn’t really art
• It should be harder to get divorced
• Gambling should be banned
• Should the press be regulated by the government or left to regulate themselves?
• Smoking should be banned
• Parents should be paid for staying at home with their children
• Detentions don’t work as punishments
• GCSEs should be abolished
• Smoking should be made illegal
• There is life after death
• Now we have film, there’s no point in the theatre
• The government shouldn’t give money to museums and art galleries
• Alcohol should be made illegal
• 
Free contraception should be handed out in secondary schools
• Discipline is the biggest problem facing schools today
• Cannabis should be legalised
• People should be allowed to own hand guns like they are in America
• Schools should be allowed to set their own curriculums
• Women should be allowed to fight on the front line in wars
• Murderers should never be released from prison
• Girls and boys should play sports together on the same teams
• One person can make a real difference
• We should prioritise giving charity at home before giving charity abroad
• We should televise criminal trials
• Performance enhancing drugs should be allowed in sports
• There is no more for feminism to do
• This House looks forward to the London Olympics
• Creationism should never be taught in schools
• The X-Factor has damaged the British Music Industry
• Money doesn’t bring you happiness
• There’s no point in studying Shakespeare in schools
• Research into cloning should be stopped
• The best way to prepare for the future is to study the past
• We should try to be more like America
• Marriage is an outdated institution
• Mums should stay at home and look after their children
• Clinically obese children should be taken into care
• How much money you earn is more important than whether you enjoy your job
• Children should have more say over their education
• The negative side of fame outweighs its advantages
• 
It should be compulsory to learn a foreign language until you are 16
• The Olympic Games will be good for London
• School uniforms should be abolished
• A country should never go to war except in self defence
• Teachers should be paid according to their results
• Young people are discriminated against in Britain
• Globalisation has increased the rich-poor divide
• Sport should not be compulsory in schools
• The internet has caused more problems than it has solved
• There should be a super tax on air travel
• It’s wrong to keep animals as pets
• It would be better to go a boarding school than a day school
• Teachers should be allowed to physically punish students
• We should abolish the monarchy
• More English players should play in the Premiership
• The government should not fund single faith schools
• We should raise taxes to provide better public services
• We should ban medical testing on animals
• Adverts are sexist
• Children should not be allowed to eat junk food
• Parents should not be allowed to smack their children
• It’s never been harder to be a child or a teenager than it is today
• Assisted suicide should be legal
• We should bring back the death penalty
• Recycling should be made compulsory
• Only British history should be taught in British schools
• The voting age should be lowered to 16
• Size zero models should be banned
• Footballers are paid too much money
• Television is a bad influence on young people
• Coursework is better than exams
• We should shut down zoos