Controversial Debate Topics

Controversial Debate Topics

What is controversy?

Controversy refers to a prolonged disagreement or heated discussion.

What are controversial issues?

Controversial issues may be questions, subjects, or problems which can create a difference of opinion. Often, they have no easy answer, in part, because solutions may be based on an individual’s personal beliefs and opinions.

What are controversial debate topics?

Controversial debate topics include subjects that create strong differences of opinion. Controversial topics give the debaters much to talk about and elicit strong emotions. Controversial topics are a good choice for debate because they immediately draw the audience’s attention.

Features of controversial debate topics

• Firm arguments. Arguments put forward must be logical, competent, and relevant in an extensive way.

• They elicit strong emotions. Debaters are often passionate about controversial issues and may at times base their arguments on personal beliefs and values.

• Have extreme opposing viewpoints. The topic should be complex enough so that serious research is done on both sides as it attracts strong arguments due to extreme positions on the topic. The topic must contain empirical date that can be analyzed and critiqued.

• It is competitive. Both debate teams try to persuade the audience that their position on the topic is superior. They do this by supporting their arguments with well-reasoned evidence.

Importance of controversial debates

• Enhance tolerance for other points of view by promoting constructive dialogue. Controversial topics elicit a lot of emotions, and if not properly moderated, can turn into a heated personal disagreement between two parties.

• They teach students how to respectfully disagree. Debating on controversial topics gives them an opportunity to discuss things they are passionate about, even if they are controversial. Students must have a safe space to test their ideas and learn to see disagreement as a learning opportunity.

• Connect students to the world they live in. This is by debating on current events that are full of controversy. Students are able to see a connection between themselves and the matters that affect the society at large, such as politics.

• Controversial debates teach positive digital citizenship. Rather than blocking controversial subjects online, debating teaches students how to find trustworthy sources and identify false information. This makes them aware of issues affecting the world we live in.

Pros and Cons of controversial Topics in Debates

Pro #1: Easy to find reputable sources to support your arguments.

Pro #2: It is easier to debate since you are passionate about the topic and it interests you.

Pro #3: Controversial issues capture the attention of the audience. This will make sure that they listen keenly through the discussion and are able to put in some constructive criticism.

Con #1: It can be hard to find good sources for controversial topics that are not easily challenged by the opposing team.

Con #2: It is hard to keep one’s emotions in check as the topics trigger an extreme opposing viewpoint that can be contrary to one’s personal values and beliefs.

Con #3: It opens room for strong criticism during rebuttals.

Examples of Controversial Debate Topics

Death Penalty Debate Topics

1. Death penalty is justifiable for murderers on the basis of an eye for an eye.

2. The death penalty is unethical since two wrongs do not make a right.

3. Isn’t the constitution contradictory in that it allows for a death penalty despite its strong assertion to grant and protect the right to life for everyone?

4. Failure to punish a capital offender with a death penalty would amount to injustice.

5. How much evidence is necessary to incriminate the accused for capital offenses?

6. The death penalty justifies that killing is good and okay in certain circumstances.

7. Is the death penalty used more for political motives than for legal purposes?

8. How should the state respond to wrongful execution of wrongfully imprisoned victims?

9. A death penalty is an effective warning served to potential criminals on the verge of becoming murderers.

10. Many countries under authoritarian regimes abuse the death penalty to acquire more power that enables elimination of political dissidents.

11. Is life imprisonment a better and more ethical alternative to death penalty as punishment for capital offenders?

12. What role does death penalty play in the American criminal justice system?

13. How does the death penalty violate the constitution?

14. Death penalty violates the Eighth Amendment.

15. By principle, the most heinous and brutal crimes warrant stern punishment such as death penalty.

16. Is there sufficient statistical evidence to support the claim that death penalty decreases the rate of homicide?

17. The practice of capital punishment throughout history has been marred by racial bias and unfairness.

18. Majority of accused capital offenders are wrongfully executed because their representative attorneys lack the requisite experience and/or are underpaid and/or overworked thus are unable to prove the innocence of their clients.

Controversial Debate Topics in Religion

1. Schools should teach detailed and comprehensive religious teachings.

2. Politics and public figures should keep their religious life private.

3. Are Christians really against gay marriages?

4. Religion is the roots of even more conflicts than it should solve.

5. Is there one superior religion?

6. Can Satanism be considered to be a valid religion?

7. Does America have the right to determine what religion students follow?

8. People can never be proponents of LGBTQ while being truly religious.

9. Do you agree with the Pope that domestic violence offenders are supposed to be forgiven?

10. Religion is just a form of primitive brain-washing government.

11. More developed countries have freer religious affiliations.

12. Is it for people to don religious clothes, ornaments, and symbols in public?

13. The Roman Priests should be allowed to marry.

14. Does religion really promote gender equality?

Abortion Debate Topics

1. Should abortion be legalized in most if not all cases?

2. Do men and women hold different views about abortion?

3. Active participation of religious entities in the discussion of legalizing abortion stalls any significant progress since they are opposed to it from the very beginning.

4. Does legal abortion enjoy the highest support from Democrats or Republicans?

5. Is abortion an ethical or moral issue?

6. Will there be any significant changes to the existing laws on abortion during the next two decades?

7. Does the connection between a mother and fetus qualify the latter to be considered as having a right to life?

8. Why does abortion receive the greatest support from the irreligious than from the religious people?

9. A fetus becomes a human being only when the birth of an infant takes place.

10. Is killing always a bad thing?

11. Is abortion only right and ethical when it has an underpinned moral justification?

12. A woman’s right to life should always prevail in cases where the pregnancy becomes complicated and endangers her life.

13. Would it be right to abort when a woman conceives due to incest or rape?

14. Why shouldn’t women opt for adoption rather than abortion?

15. Majority of the people opting for abortion are young women who lack lifelong experience on matters life.

16. Abortion is more harmful than beneficial to women.

17. Is abortion an alternative form of contraception used for birth control?

18. Do abortions always subject women to psychological trauma?

Controversial Debate Topics in Medical Ethics

1. Abortion for failed contraception should be legalized.

2. Doctors have the responsibility to use euthanasia to relieve pain and suffering.

3. Is it right to give life-support therapy even when it is clear that it will fail?

4. Would you withdraw life-support when you have faith in it to fulfill the family’s demands?

5. Giving patients placebo drugs is okay of they ask for it.

6. Drugs with addictive effects should be withheld from patients even though it means undertreating the condition.

7. It is not necessary to reveal mistakes if they have no impact on the patient’s health.

8. Medically unapproved procedures can be conducted if they can save the patient.

9. Colleagues should report those who show up at work intoxicated and may cause a risk to patients.

10. Dropping poorly-paying insurers is okay even when you lose patients as well.

11. It is alright to falsify a patient’s conditions in settlement claims to get them the services needed.

12. Physicians can drop patients who do not comply with treatment plans to increase their performance rates.

13. If a patient’s condition is a risk to others, breaking the confidentiality agreement is right.

14. Gifts or favors from pharmaceuticals companies: why or why not?

Debate Topics on Marijuana Legalization for to 1^st – 5^th Grades

1. Which is better; legalizing marijuana for recreational use or medical purposes?

2. Why recreational marijuana is the most supported legalization option among American citizens?

3. Why have some states legalized marijuana but others are reluctant to do so?

4. Marijuana legalization is justifiable on the grounds that past prohibition initiatives and programs have terribly failed in reducing access and use of cannabis.

5. Who would benefit the most from marijuana legalization? Who would be adversely affected?

6. Legalizing marijuana will decrease the number of racially biased police arrests.

7. Marijuana should not be legalized because it would impede the normal growth and development of school going children who may become addicted.

8. Should the state governments take full control of the production and distribution of marijuana or should it be left to private commercial entities?

9. Has marijuana overdose caused any deaths in the past?

10. The benefits of legalizing cannabis outweigh the associated drawbacks.

11. Marijuana is less harmful than tobacco products.

12. Once legalized, should pregnant women be barred from accessing and using it?

13. Legalizing marijuana would increase the abuse rates of other harder and dangerous drugs such as heroin and cocaine since cannabis is a gateway drug.

14. Who among the younger and older generations highly supports this legalization?

15. Why has Congress been so reluctant in passing a legislation to reschedule marijuana?

16. It is a necessary contradiction that recreational use of marijuana remains illegal at the federal level but legal at the state level.

Racism Debate Topics for 6^th-8^th Grade

1. At what age do we become cognizant of racism?

2. Is racism any different from implicit bias?

3. In minority communities, racism has made people to perceive police officers as threats rather than friends.

4. Has racism been discriminative or beneficial to you?

5. Parents should start talking about racism with their children when the children turn five years of age.

6. Is the white race more superior to other races?

7. Have you ever witnessed instances of racial discrimination?

8. How did you emotively respond to this instance?

9. Every student has been transformed by racism encounters.

10. Can racial equity and inclusion be fostered by our shared values?

11. Are you comfortable talking about racism?

12. It is possible for speakers to be racist because the impact of their words does not serve the original intent.

13. What is the role of the New Jim Crow on racism?

14. There are less than ten racial identity groups throughout the U.S.

15. What stereotypic beliefs do you hold concerning other racial groups?

16. Racist jokes should be punishable in school.

17. Racism is more of a nurtured trait than an inherent one.

Bullying Debate Topics for High School

1. What are the core elements that define bullying?

2. Direct bullying is different from indirect bullying.

3. Is verbal bullying more harmful than physical bullying?

4. Damage to property amounts to bullying.

5. The rapid transformation of technology in recent years has exacerbated traditional bullying by introducing electronic bullying.

6. Is harassment a type of bullying or crime?

7. How prevalent is bullying in high school?

8. Junior high school students are more bullied than their counterparts in senior high school.

9. Why are some students more vulnerable to bullying than others?

10. Bullying may come in form of assaults or hazing.

11. The impacts of bullying affects the bullied, bullies and bullying witnesses.

12. Bullying perpetrators usually do so in a group rather than individually.

13. There is no proven best way to curb bullying in high school.

14. Only a very small percentage of bullied students actually do report to adults.

15. How does bullying contribute to suicidal tendencies?

16. Why are the LGBTQ youth the most affected victims of bullying?

17. Is bullying legal or illegal?

18. Why are adults unable to respond appropriately when they see an instance of bullying?

19. Should there be federal laws to regulate bullying?

Terrorism Debate Topics

1. What is terrorism?

2. Terrorism can be justified.

3. What are the defining qualities of a terrorist?

4. It is okay to use armed force in combating international terrorism.

5. Suicide bombers are not only brave but also courageous.

6. Are we entering an age of terrorism?

7. How should we respond to terrorism?

8. The increasing prevalence of terrorism can be attributed to the increasing number and types of evil in contemporary societies.

9. Is terrorism correlated with the Islamic faith?

10. Is international terrorism any different from domestic terrorism?

11. Is it okay to adopt terrorism as a state policy in totalitarian regimes?

12. How has terrorism evolved throughout history?

13. Globalization has contributed to increased terrorist activities.

14. Who are the financiers of terrorism?

15. Organized crime is not any different from terrorism.

16. Is the Islamic concept of jihad related to terrorism?

17. What is the primary motive of terrorism?

18. How does the American public perceive terrorism?

19. Economic deprivation is a major consequence of terrorism.

20. Cyber-terrorism has changed traditional terrorism significantly.

Debate Topics on Xenophobia

1. What are the defining features of xenophobia?

2. Is xenophobia a form of discrimination?

3. What breeds xenophobic tendencies and attitudes?

4. Surging levels of crime trigger xenophobic attacks.

5. Xenophobia is justifiable in cases where proponents suffer numerous socio-economic challenges.

6. Do leaders play an active role in promoting xenophobia?

7. Foreign nationals are fully responsible for causing the socio-economic challenges that local natives face.

8. Can xenophobia ever be truly eliminated in countries that deny its existence?

9. Is xenophobia a hobby?

10. Would there be no more socio-economic challenges if all foreign nationals are evicted from xenophobic countries?

11. Xenophobia is not a serious issue in the USA.

12. Xenophobia is inherently linked with criminal activities.

13. Are hatred and jealousy the main causes of xenophobia?

14. Xenophobia indicates failed conflict resolution mechanisms at the state level.

15. Corrupt civil servants and public officials proliferate xenophobia.

Controversial Military Debate Topics

1. America’s longest war is still ongoing in Afghanistan.

2. Are American forces adept at lying about civilian casualties whenever an attack happens?

3. What causes the death of U.S. members who are only attending advisory and training missions in Afghanistan?

4. The military has been unable to contain the spread of Islamic State group despite camping within those territories.

5. Why has the federal government been unable to cap military spending?

6. The quick adoption of new technologies by military is done at the expense of public relations.

7. The Rapid Target Acquisition (RTA) method is ethical and simple.

8. Is the U.S. military rightfully entitled to access all the technologies with militaristic capabilities?

9. The military is justified in using any new AI technology for military purposes even when legal guidelines are non-existent.

10. Is it not controversial that military leaders never want their troops to face a fair fight?

11. The US military is the most admired public institution even though these admirers know very little about it.

12. Why is it easier for the military to overlook accountability for failed missions?

13. Why are more women veterans of the post 911 era less likely to have served in combat operations than men?

14. Why does the military use hand symbols that promote white supremacy?

15. The military is usually known to be dishonest and insincere when it comes to sharing of sensitive information with allied forces.

Controversial Debate Topics on the Internet

1. Sharing a media file online is not any different from sharing a hardcopy textbook with a friend.

2. Content creators lose the power and control of the created media file once it is released on the internet.

3. To what extent should parents control and protect their children?

4. Political leaders have the power to gag electronic communication even in a country that protects free speech.

5. The internet facilitates the spread of fake news.

6. A meme cannot be used as a hate symbol.

7. Should the US give up oversight of internet addresses?

8. Social media ruins journalism.

9. Why is it not possible to crack down on social media threats?

10. Can real relationships be forged between people who never met?

11. Screen addiction is not a concern for young people.

12. Schools have no right to regulate students’ off-campus online behavior.

13. What are online trolls?

14. Collection of data by companies threatens consumers’ civil rights.

15. The internet should be accessible by lower-income people.

Controversial Child Development Debate Topics

1. Between the environment and genetics, what contributes the most to child development?

2. Development is a process that takes place slowly and smoothly.

3. Both nature and nurture contributes equally to development.

4. Are humans most affected by early childhood experiences or later ones?

5. A child’s personality is established before attainment of age five.

6. Children who have abusive childhood experiences tend to develop abnormally.

7. Child development occurs in a series of predetermined stages.

8. Are individual differences responsible for abnormal behavior?

9. Children are not an active force in their own development.

10. Is development continuous or discontinuous?

11. There are no critical periods in development.

12. The internet is not safe for child development.

13. Is early childhood education any good for child development?

14. Children from low income families tend to develop at a slower rate.

15. What active roles should parents play in the development of their children?

Controversial Education Debate Topics

1. Should the number of homeschooled students be controlled?

2. Is it okay to ban public prayers in school?

3. Students should have the right to own guns?

4. Should students be allowed to watch violent video games?

5. Every student should be mandated to perform national public service.

6. Should school uniform be mandatory?

7. Standardized testing should be nullified.

8. Should students have an after-school job?

9. The law should eliminate student loan debt.

10. Is it alright for security guards in schools to be armed?

11. Does the religion taught in school determine the morals of students?

12. All schools should be public schools.

13. Students prefer to go to boarding schools.

14. Sexual education is necessary in every school.

15. Should all teachers be granted tenures?

16. All schools must have a healthcare facility.

17. Is it okay for students to have cell phones in school?

Controversial Debate Topics in Criminal Justice System

1. Can women be allowed to carry out abortion legally?

2. The government should legalize marijuana.

3. How does the law punish sexual offenders in schools or workplace?

4. What leads to juvenile delinquency?

5. How can the law prevent frauds from forgery?

6. How can police brutality in a country be restrained?

7. Is unwarranted arrest against the human rights?

8. Is the rate of cybercrime high in the United States?

9. How can youth gangs be reformed?

10. What are the rights of the victim as a result of domestic abuse?

11. Should the government punish crimes made by people with mental health illnesses?

12. What are the reasons why youth abuse substances?

13. Is pornography a form of sexual violence?

14. Racism is still present in the current justice system.

15. How can a person defend themselves against false accusation?

16. People should acquire license to own firearms.

17. Is political corruption leading to organized crimes?

18. Does a maltreated child cause him/her to commit crimes?

19. Can unemployment lead to crime in the United States?

20. Individuals with high intelligence have a higher chance of engaging in crime.

Debate List of Historical Controversies

1. Where is the geographic location of human origins?

2. What is the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin?

3. Were Vanzetti Sacco guilty or innocent?

4. How long did it take to write the Old Testament?

5. The downfall of Roman Empire can be attributed to Christianity.

6. Production of weapons of mass destruction started a few decades ago.

7. How historic is Buddha?

8. William Shakespeare was the first person to write literature.

Controversial Debate Topics on American History

1. The subject of immigration has always elicited intense reactions amongst Americans.

2. Despite the 200 plus years of practice, American politics are still at infancy.

3. Throughout history, the US government has always been partisan.

4. US has struggled with racism since time immemorial.

5. Were it not for the civil rights movements of yore, the US would not be cognizant of human rights.

6. How could the US have better responded to military and war?

7. American Indians were the most oppressed communities during westward expansion.

8. Federalism and democracy are not the best political systems for governance.

9. Many American social issues emanate from race and gender.

Controversial Topics in Law Enforcement

1. How can police do a good job of recruiting officers?

2. Appropriate ethical guidelines should be adopted when using robots for policing.

3. Should the mentally ill be locked in jails?

4. Crime cannot be ethically predicted.

5. Why do law enforcement officers use deadly force so frequently?

6. Police have been unable to drop the crime rates.

7. A special prosecutor independent of local district attorneys should be given the responsibility when police use excessive force.

8. Modern police are too heavily armed.

9. Filming of police encounters will certainly reduce the use of excessive force.

Controversial Debate Topics in Early Childhood Education

1. The smooth functioning of ECE classrooms depends on the ability of the ECE educator to cater for all the unique needs of kids.

2. Is it wrong for parents to make demands and requests from ECE teachers?

3. The documentation of ECE learning and activities should be done on a daily basis.

4. The low pay and salary associated with ECE positions discourage and dissuade many potential candidates from pursuing a career in this line.

5. ECE learning should receive the recognition it deserves for facilitating over 90% of a child’s brain development.

6. ECE should provide teachers with more opportunities for personal and professional development.

7. Upward mobility in ECE positions is practically impossible.

8. Why does ECE entail many expectations considering that the number of resources necessary to meet them is limited and insufficient?

Controversial Topics Special Education

1. What is the importance of early intervention and prevention in special education?

2. Has technological development supported students in overcoming various challenges and limitations?

3. Innovative and creative educators have managed to leverage technology for the benefit of students.

4. The revision to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to include transition planning should have been done long ago.

5. In recent years, the number of special education teachers has shrunk significantly to render a critical shortage.

6. Lower enrollments in teacher training programs has decreased the number of special education teachers.

7. What role does low salaries and pay play in the extremely high exit rate for special education teachers.

8. An effective learning environment for a student with special needs can be the traditional classroom or a continuum of alternative settings.

Controversial Topics in Computer Science

1. Have developments in computer science enabled the US government to violate the privacy of its citizens?

2. The NSA must reform the methods it uses to collect data for the government.

3. Why does Artificial Intelligence (AI) raise so many ethical concerns?

4. Computers have a long way to go before they become intelligent enough to show feelings and emotions.

5. When will computers stop the constant servitude it offers to people?

6. The rising rates of global unemployment can be attributed to AI computers that are slowly taking away human jobs.

7. Has computer science promoted piracy and copyright infringement?

8. The current legal framework is inefficient in protecting people against internet threats.

Controversial Debate Topics in History

1. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) was initially formed to deter the US from participating in the First World War.

2. The CIA played a significant role in the 1963 South Vietnamese coup.

3. Was the 9/11 terrorist attack the deadliest terrorist attack in human history?

4. Alternative energy and fossil fuels have a long history dating back to 2000 BC.

5. Does sexuality and sexual orientation have any physiological origins?

6. Death penalty as a capital punishment has been banned and legalized in equal measure for the past 200 years.

7. When were the first electronic voting machines used?

8. Same-sex marriage is a 20^th century development.

9. What is the history of illegal immigration in the US?

10. Israel and Palestine have embroiled in conflicts and wars since time immemorial.

Controversial Topics in Literature

1. A novel should challenge rather than entertain the reader.

2. Complex and nuanced literature writing is better than the spare and true writing.

3. Does a story on a fallible human character tempt readers into pitfalls or help them avoid the pitfalls?

4. Authors are mainly concerned with what’s best for the story rather what’s best for the reader.

5. Many readers find didactic literature to be more interesting that moral literature.

6. Is there any difference between presentative literature and representative literature?

7. Literature has no therapeutic power on recovering soldiers.

Controversial Topics in Business Management

1. Is sexual harassment on the decline or rise in modern workplace settings?

2. Strained racial relationships are the major hindrances of workplace diversity.

3. A properly managed business can be a powerful force for social progress.

4. Should national parental leave programs be effective a fortnight before birth of children takes place?

5. Workplace violence is not a major management concern for many modern businesses.

6. The increasing cases of workplace sabotage and espionage can be attributed to perceived injustice in business.

7. Majority of the business management issues emanate from bureaucratic procedures and officials.

8. The use of social identity to hire and promote employees is a retrogressive practice.

Historical Controversies in American History

1. The Apollo program and moon landing were hoaxes that NASA staged.

2. Would the American Revolution of the late 18^th century have been successful without French assistance?

3. Japan surrendered during World War II because the Soviet Union joined forces with the Allies.

4. The US detonation of two atomic bombs in Japan scared the USSR to the benefit of the US during the early stages of Cold War.

5. The Confederate States of America existed in mid-19^th century as an unrecognized North American state.

6. Racial segregation in the US was initiated and promoted by racially-biased laws such as the Jim Crow laws.

7. Did the US internment of Japanese Americans entail forceful evictions and incarceration in concentration camps?

8. There was a conspiracy created by powerful individuals and organizations to assassinate President John F. Kennedy.

Contemporary Controversies in the USA Concerning Vaccine Safety

1. Can the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine cause autism?

2. Thimerosal used to preserve some vaccines heightens the risk of neurodevelopmental disabilities.

3. Majority of the available influenza vaccines can cause GBS.

4. Can vaccines cause chronic diseases of autoimmune etiology?

5. The safety of HPV vaccine is low.

6. The immune system might be overwhelmed by the many vaccines given early in life.

7. Many issues concerning vaccine safety can be refuted using scientific evidence.

8. Healthcare providers should be on the frontline in busting the myths and misconceptions concerning vaccine safety.

Controversial Debate Issues in Sports Today

1. Should the NBA and NFL drop the requirement for college education?

2. The Redskins should change their name because it is offensive to Native Americans.

3. Modern games should be exclusively controlled using virtual referees.

4. Should players be allowed to use steroids?

5. An expansion of NFL playoffs is necessary and merited.

6. Are scholarships insufficient compensations for college athletes?

7. Should aging athletes be obliged to take pay cuts?

8. The main goal of sportsmanship should not only be winning.

Controversial Debate Topics in Science

1. Should scientists work to make computers replace doctors?

2. Scientific research should be concerned with developing solutions to make humans immortal.

3. Is animal testing really necessary?

4. Are adult stem cells superior alternatives to embryonic stem cell research?

5. Can the earth be destroyed by a big Hadron collider?

6. Cold fusion is not real.

7. The safety of nuclear power is currently controversial.

8. Majority of the GMO products on sale are unsafe for consumption.

Controversial Debate Topics in Forensic Science

1. Misrepresentation of professional credentials to win a case.

2. Laboratory analysis should be trusted without a second opinion.

3. Forensic scientists can give any form of testimony in court and use scientific jargon.

4. The scientists who conduct the analysis should not be present in court.

5. Forensic psychologists can discuss their work with their social groups even when it can be used to violate human rights.

6. Details of cases like sexual assault should not be revealed.

7. Can forensic science be more professional and dependable?

8. Is all science used for the purpose of law enforcement really forensics?

9. Are there protocols of investigation to protect privacy?

10. Forensic science has a great potential in promoting justice.

Controversial Debate Topics in Business

1. Are multinational corporations beneficial or harmful to local communities?

2. Businesses should limit the number of women on boards of directors using gender quotas.

3. There is no need for laws to guarantee that women receive the same salary as men do.

4. Is it okay for prescription drug companies to promote their products directly to customers?

5. All part-time employees must be entitled to the company’s health care programs.

6. Should a paternity leave be longer than a maternity leave?

7. Businesses should be barred from making large donations for campaigning politicians.

8. Are non-financial incentives more effective than financial ones?

9. All businesses should ban the use of social media in workplaces.

10. Are employees more productive when working from home or workplace settings?

Controversial Medicine and Medical Debate Topics

1. TV commercials for alcohol and fast foods should be banned.

2. The government should refuse importation of medical products obtained at the cost of someone’s health.

3. An elderly person should make the final decision of whether to or not to join an elderly center.

4. In some cases, exercising worsens the health more than it improves it.

5. The issue of obesity should be a public concern rather than an individual problem.

6. The only way to prevent social media addiction and its negative mental impacts is to enact state regulations.

7. Should genetic engineering research be permitted?

8. Medical research that poses threats should be banned.

9. The state should play an active role in encouraging people to lead healthy lifestyles.

10. Animals cannot be used to test drugs.

11. Poor health is directly linked to poverty.

12. The cost of healthcare in the US is unjustified.

13. What drives the cost of healthcare in the US?

14. The donor system must include both opt-in and opt-out options.

15. Homeless people should receive free health care from the state.

16. People should be encouraged to turn to homeopathy first.

17. The national healthcare should incorporate unconventional forms of medicine.

18. Is it okay to limit access of medical care to those insured only?

19. Medical errors should be accompanied by criminal responsibility.

20. It is not okay for doctors to promote particular brands of drugs and medical products.

21. Euthanasia should be legalized.

22. It is wrong to legalize abortion.

23. Surrogate pregnancy should only be used for health reasons.

24. Mental health issues should not be treated within the community.

25. Surrogate pregnancy is a good alternative to womb transplantation.

26. Should doctors be required to report cases of organ trafficking.

27. Would it be okay to deny people organ transplantation for leading unhealthy lifestyle?

28. It is okay to make children vaccination mandatory.

29. A parent’s wishes should not restrict a doctor from providing medical care to minor.

30. TV shows concerned with diets and losing weight are ineffective.

Current Controversies in the Biological Sciences

1. Embryonic stem cells can be used for both research and cures.

2. The government should regulate genetically engineered food.

3. Should there be stricter regulation of antibiotics.

4. The government should ban cloning of organs and tissues.

5. Genetic screening and counselling should be made mandatory.

6. Will the third world war entail biological warfare?

7. Organ donation should be made mandatory.

Controversial Debate Topics in Public Health Issues

1. How can Medicare be revised to ensure long-term financing of health care services.

2. How much percentage of the GDP should the government spend on health care costs?

3. Regulations should be put in place to expand Medicaid coverage.

4. Prevention of firearm-related injuries is a major public health challenge across the US.

5. Should there be national recommendations for states regarding the immunization of adults and children.

6. The tobacco control campaign has been the most successful public health effort.

7. The long-term impact of nanotechnologies is not yet fully understood.

Gay Marriage Debate Topics

1. Same sex marriages should be banned in all the states.

2. Gay marriages are similar to heterosexual marriages.

3. Homosexual couples should not be granted rights to share health and pension benefits.

4. Gay marriages cannot produce stable families and healthy societies.

5. Gay people should have the rights to enter into formalized homosexual relationships.

6. The issue of gay marriages should not be addressed in courts.

7. The topic on gay marriage has been a major campaign tool in the US since the late 90s.

Persuasive Debate Topics on Teenage Pregnancy

1. How does teenage pregnancy affect the friends and family of the pregnant teen?

2. Why do many teenage mothers experience challenges?

3. Hollywood’s perception of teenage pregnancy has changed over the years.

4. Are there any specific factors that contribute to teenage pregnancy?

5. Teenage pregnancy has substantial effects on children.

6. Why does the US record the highest rates of teenage pregnancy among the industrialized countries?

7. Teenage pregnancy in the last 50 years is not perceived the same as it is today.

8. Is there any connection between teenage pregnancy and lower socioeconomic status?

9. Children from teenage mothers have higher mental capacities and capabilities.

10. Birth control methods should be taught in schools.