High School Debate Topics

A debate is a mandatory and 'must-have' activity in all schools and colleges due to its many advantages. Firstly, it improves the skills of public speaking or oratory in students. Secondly, it is helpful to enhance other skills like research, ability to put forth one's views and thoughts confidently. Thirdly, a good debate improves the speaker's as well as the audiences' knowledge on the subject. With so many benefits, a debate is naturally one of the interesting activities in schools. So, if you are looking for topics for a healthy debate, you can go through the following list.

Interesting Debate Topics for High School

Current issues, myths, facts, fashion, Government, social issues, environmental issues, etc. are considered as the interesting and most debatable topics because they are always popular. In the following topics, one can either have a positive or a negative view (i.e., talk on the pros and cons) on the same subject and hence, are termed as interesting topics to talk and debate.

• Real alien sightings
• Are school uniforms good or bad
• Cross culture adoption
• Banning smoking in public places
• Should juveniles be tried as adults
• Ghosts are people without bodies
• How much is too much homework
• Are video games good for you
• Sex education for children
• Most endangered species
• Pros and cons of organic farming
• Is Hinduism really a religion
• Negative and positive effects of peer pressure
• Computer and video games: the pros and cons
• Does television affect your intelligence
• Pros and cons of standardized testing
• Can you change your habits
• Emotions as blocks or lessons
• How to prevent school violence
• Does music affect plant growth
• Effects of music on the mind and brain
• Condom - Important to know
• Spirituality: The key to problems of our age
• Dreams: links between real and imaginary worlds
• Existence of life on mars
• Should the drinking age be lowered
• Pros and cons of legalizing marijuana
• Global warming: fact or fiction
• Does food exert a role more than just satiating your hunger
• Are vampires real
• God: myth or reality
• Vending machines in schools: pros and cons
• Bilingual education pros and cons
• What is the importance of public opinion in media
• 2012 end of the world: Is the world going to end in 2012
• Media censorship: why is censorship good
• The influence of chat rooms on teenagers
• Afterlife: is there life after death
• Are mermaids real

Good Debate Topics

On contrary to the above topics, in the following topics, there are two different topics which one can compare and contrast to debate. Each team has to choose a single subject (between the two) and speak about the pros or the advantages of it over the other. Each team has to debate to prove that their subject is better than the other.

• Atheism vs Christianity
• LED vs LCD monitor
• Socialism vs capitalism
• Notebook vs laptop
• Football vs soccer
• Spirituality vs religion
• Homeschooling vs public school
• Organic milk vs regular milk
• Legal separation vs divorce
• Tenants in common vs joint tenancy
• American cars vs foreign cars
• Federalists vs anti-federalists
• Dictatorship vs democracy
• Debit card vs credit card
• Infatuation vs love
• Morals vs ethics
• Big government vs small government

Subjects for Debates

Now, here are just the topics which can help in forming interesting debate questions or issues. You can go through these topics and frame out your own debate questions, as above, for debates.

Part-Time Jobs	Unidentified Flying Objects	Bluetooth Technology
Life on Mars	TV Shows	Friendship
Air Pollution	Water Pollution	Noise Pollution
Organic Foods	Obesity	Animal Testing
Oscars	Recycling	Population Growth
Drug Addiction	Holocaust	Generation Gap
Internet Technology	Globalization	Gun Safety
Online Education	Internet Privacy	Illegal Immigration
Employment Discrimination	Terrorism	Nuclear Weapons
Space Explorations	Relationships	Gay Marriages
Gambling	Outsourcing	Teenage Smoking
Infidelity	Advertising	Dating
Beauty Pageants	Artificial Intelligence	Homosexuality
Mass Media	Deforestation	Environmental Issues
War Crimes	Human Rights	Astrology
World Religions	Inflation	Stem Cell Research
Euthanasia	Human Cloning	Teenage Pregnancy
Birth Control	Cosmetic Surgery	Gene Therapy
Artificial Insemination	Death Penalty	Robotics
Social Networking	Acid Rain	Magazines

These debating topics can also be used to write an argumentative essay or for argumentative speeches. So, if you are participating in a debate, make sure to read extensively on it (mostly current stuff), make quick notes and go forward with confidence! Good luck!