100+ Best Debate Topics for School and College Students in 2024

Interesting discussions start with thought-provoking and engaging topics. However, coming up with a stimulating discussion topic is no easy task. To discover the appropriate mix between your interest and what your audience wants to hear, you’ll have to scrape your head. Furthermore, selecting a debate topic only on the basis of its controversial nature will not guarantee a spirited and entertaining argument. Other factors must be considered too. So, before you finalize your debate topic, spent some time investigating opposing viewpoints and locating evidence and research papers to support your position. This will ensure that your issue is capable of stimulating a long-lasting and intriguing conversation. With that being said, below are the 100 best debate topics for school and college students in 2024.

What is a Debate?

A debate refers to a formal discussion about a specific topic that involves two sides representing and discussing opposing ideas. A debate has a long and specific structure and format. Besides, the main purpose of taking part in a debate is to develop their public speaking skills. To be a good debater, you have to decide on a clear and vivid structure for your debate and present strong arguments.

Besides helping you develop public speaking skills, debating can help you in numerous situations including your college admission interview, college presentations, and even job presentations.

100 Best Debate Topics for School and College Students in 2024

Education-Themed Topics

1. All students should have to purchase a laptop.
2. Are student loans exploitative?
3. Cell phones should be banned in schools.
4. Education should be privatized.
5. Contact sports should be required in school.
6. A college degree is essential for getting a good job.
7. Do you need homework in order to learn?
8. Girls should be actively encouraged to enter STEM fields.
9. All students should go to boarding schools.
10. Public schools are better than private schools.
11. Should free STD testing be offered in schools?
12. Education should focus on maths and science rather than music and art.
13. College should be free for everyone.
14. Should standardized testing be abolished?
15. Student loans should be forgiven.
16. School uniforms should be mandatory.
17. Teachers should be paid as much as doctors.
18. Studying a second language should be compulsory.
19. Teachers should be given guns to defend students.
20. Homeschooling is better than traditional schooling.
21. Religion should be taught in schools.
22. Public prayer should not be allowed in schools.
23. All students should have an after-school job or internship.
24. Schools should ban sites like Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram on their computers.
25. All schools should have armed security guards.

Social Matters Debate Topics

1. Burning the flag should be illegal.
2. Barbie is a good role model for young girls.
3. Cigarettes should be banned.
4. Can censorship ever be justified?
5. Feminism should focus more on men’s rights.
6. Drug use should be treated as a mental health issue rather than a criminal offense.
7. Has the #MeToo movement gone too far?
8. Is privacy essential?
9. Healthcare should be universal.
10. Is graffiti art just as worthy of regard as classical paintings?
11. Police should be allowed to use deadly force.
12. Peer pressure is a good thing.
13. Should genetic engineering be legal?
14. Social media does more harm than good.
15. Should insurance cover cosmetic procedures?
16. The death penalty should be abolished.
17. The government should provide free birth control.
18. The minimum wage should be raised.
19. We’re living in a dystopian society.
20. All drugs should be legalized.
21. Human cloning should be legalized.
22. Every citizen should be mandated to perform national public service.
23. Plastic bags should be banned.
24. Climate change is the greatest threat facing humanity today.
25. All people should have Universal Basic Income.

Political Debate Topics

1. All prisons should be governmentally owned and run.
2. Communism is not a good political ideology.
3. Is owning an automatic weapon morally justifiable?
4. All people should be able to own guns.
5. Churches should pay taxes.
6. Juries should include 24 jurors instead of 12.
7. Should the U.N. have a standing army?
8. Is freedom of speech a necessity in a functional society?
9. Britain should leave the European Union.
10. Presidential terms should be limited to two years instead of four.
11. Should the voting age be lowered to 16?
12. Politics should be kept out of schools.
13. Should illegal immigrants be treated as criminals?
14. There Is No Justification for the War on Terror.
15. Is patriotism ultimately destructive to international relations?
16. Presidential terms should be limited to two years instead of four.
17. The U.S. should intervene in overseas conflicts.
18. Vaccination should be mandatory.
19. Should illegal immigrants be treated as criminals?
20. The British Monarchy should be abolished.
21. The country should allow more refugees to enter.
22. Should your country make a land claim on Antarctica?
23. Countries should be isolationist.
24. Every citizen should be mandated to perform national public service.
25. Is freedom of speech a necessity in a functional society?

Environmental Related Debate Topics

1. Companies should be taxed on their carbon emissions and other negative environmental impacts.
2. Animals should have the same rights as humans.
3. Electric cars are impractical.
4. Plastic bags and packaging should be banned.
5. Block-chain technology is harming the environment.
6. Genetically modified foods (GMOs) should be banned.
7. More land should be dedicated to national parks.
8. Is organic farming the future of agriculture?
9. Nuclear energy is the solution to the overconsumption of fossil fuels.
10. Live animal exports should be banned.
11. Plastic bags and packaging should be banned.
12. Everyone should purchase electric cars.
13. The selling of fur should be banned.
14. Is tourism beneficial to the environment?
15. The best way to combat climate change is for individuals to reduce their carbon footprint.
16. Is the Paris Agreement relevant anymore?
17. Electric cars are impractical.
18. Climate change is the greatest threat in human history.
19. Everyone should be vegetarian.
20. Fracking should be banned.

Technology Related Debate Topics

1. All cars should be electric.
2. Everyone should buy NFTs.
3. Are robots going to increase or decrease our quality of life?
4. Does social media improve or impede communication?
5. Is technology going to save the world or kill it?
6. Online schooling is the way of the future.
7. Is technology the opposite of nature? Or are technology and nature diametrically opposed?
8. Should a person’s social media be considered by police investigations, school admissions, and potential employers?
9. Has social media benefitted or harmed people’s social lives?
10. Should humans colonize other planets?
11. Robots should have rights.
12. The Turing test is still relevant.
13. Is online education better than traditional education
14. We should invest more money into space exploration.
15. Should individuals own their own DNA?
16. Technology will be man’s downfall.
17. Net neutrality should be restored.
18. AI is dangerous.
19. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies should be encouraged or banned.
20. Governments should invest in alternative energy sources.

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