Controversial Topics for Persuasive Papers or Speeches
|
Abortion |
Drugs |
|
Legalization of the abortion pill |
Medical marijuana (legalization of marijuana) |
|
Right to life |
Performance enhancing drugs |
|
Adoption |
Economics |
|
Interracial adoption |
Governmentbailouts of private business/industry |
|
Open adoption records |
Credit cards and young people |
|
Airlines |
Education |
|
Airline strikes |
see also: Schools |
|
Airline safety |
Bilingual education |
|
Airline regulation |
College entrance exams |
|
Arming airline pilots |
On-line education |
|
Alcohol |
Emphasis on college admissions tests |
|
Lowering the Legal Drinking Age |
Retention of students due to failing grades |
|
Drunk Driving |
Year-round schooling |
|
Animals |
Value of homework |
|
Animal experimentation |
School vouchers |
|
Should certain breeds of dogs, |
Testing to hold schools accountable for |
|
like pit bulls be banned? |
student achievement |
|
Spaying and neutering of pets |
Mainstreaming disabled children |
|
Exotic animals as pets |
Inflation of grades in high school & college |
|
Animal euthanasia |
Necessity of teacher certification |
|
Bioethics |
Inclusion of pre-schools in public education |
|
Genetic engineering |
College for everyone |
|
Cloning |
Early decision programs for college admission |
|
Stem cell research |
Bilingual education |
|
Birth Control |
Too much emphasis on computers in schools |
|
Celebrity Privacy |
Concentration on academics rather than sports |
|
Censorship |
Electoral Reform |
|
Wartime censorship |
Eminent Domain |
|
Charitable Contributions |
Energy |
|
Celebrities raising money |
Development of alternate forms of energy |
|
Accountability of charities |
Fuel efficiency in automobiles |
|
Creation vs. Evolution |
Environmental Protection |
|
Crime |
Wetlands regulation |
|
see also: Law and Crime |
Ethics |
|
“Three strikes” crime laws |
Presidential ethics |
|
Hate crimes (hate crime laws) |
Medical ethics |
|
Death |
Extraterrestrial Life |
|
Death penalty (capitol punishment) |
Family |
|
Televised executions |
Unmarried mothers keeping their babies |
|
Right to Die (Euthanasia, assisted suicide) |
Unmarried couples living together |
|
Detention Facilities |
Visitation rights for grandparents |
|
Tactics used at GuantanamoBay and Abu Ghraib |
Same-sex marriages |
|
Discrimination |
Postponing parenthood |
|
Age discrimination |
Spanking children |
|
Race discrimination |
Kids too busy to be kids |
|
Divorce |
Taking children out of abusive homes |
|
DNA |
Parent staying home with the children |
|
Database controversy |
Requiring a license before you can have children |
|
Driving |
Men sharing birth control burden |
|
Driving age for teens |
Living together replacing marriage |
|
Drug Testing |
Food Industry |
|
In the workplace |
Meat industry’s use of antibiotics |
|
Mandatory drug testing for athletes |
Safety of genetically engineered foods |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Freedom |
Media |
|
Freedom of speech (1st amendment) |
Sex on TV |
|
Gambling |
Video game violence causing violence in children |
|
Dangers of Gambling |
Violence on television causing increase in violence |
|
Global Warming |
among children/teens |
|
Guns |
Medical |
|
Right to own guns (Gun control) |
Managed Heath Care |
|
Zero Tolerance policies in schools |
Medical treatment refusal rights |
|
Harassment |
Medical malpractice |
|
Sexual Harassment |
Public access to personal health records |
|
Health |
On-line purchase of prescription drugs |
|
see: Medical |
Smokers with lung cancer collecting damages |
|
Homelessness |
Pregnancy in post-menopausal women |
|
Homosexuality |
Donating blood |
|
Immigration |
Human cloning |
|
Illegal immigrants |
Liposuction health risks |
|
Restricting immigration into the U.S. |
Military |
|
Insanity Plea |
Conscientious objectors |
|
Internet |
Women in military combat assignments |
|
Downloading music from the Internet |
Women in military schools |
|
Internet regulation |
Homosexuals in the military |
|
Children’s Internet Protection Act |
Use of military tribunals |
|
Plagiarism and the Internet |
Morals |
|
On-line purchasing hurts brick-and-mortar |
Decline of morality in America |
|
businesses |
Mysteries/Unexplained phenomena |
|
Internet filters |
Paranormal phenomena |
|
Gambling on the Internet |
Bermuda Triangle |
|
Ivory Trade |
Big foot…fact or fiction |
|
Labor |
Loch Ness Monster |
|
Child Labor |
Myths and Misconceptions/Paranormal Phenomena |
|
Labor Unions |
Paranormal phenomena |
|
Language |
Bermuda triangle |
|
Making English the “official” language of the U.S. |
Big foot, fact or fiction? |
|
Law and Crime |
Loch Ness Monster |
|
Execution of the mentally retarded |
Existence of ghosts |
|
Death penalty for teens |
UFO’s |
|
Prison boot camps for young offenders |
Real-life vampires |
|
Battered woman syndrome as a defense |
National Deficit |
|
Sex-offender registries |
Nuclear Arms Control |
|
Criminals getting off too easily |
Nuclear Test Ban |
|
Voting rights for prisoners |
Organ and Body Donation |
|
DNA testing of criminals |
Parenting |
|
Children prosecuted as adults |
Surrogate parenting |
|
Media publicity for serial killers increases/ |
Homosexual parenting |
|
decreases threat to society |
Police Corruption |
|
Voting rights for ex-prisoners |
Politics |
|
Abusing the right to sue |
Campaign finance reform |
|
Motorcycle helmet laws |
Presidential ethics |
|
Seat-belt laws |
Pornography |
|
Legal driving age |
Harm to society |
|
Toleration of “hate speech” |
On the Internet |
|
Lotteries |
Stronger child pornography laws |
|
Eliminating the lottery |
Pregnancy |
|
Marriage |
Fetal Abuse |
|
Same-sex marriages |
Prisons |
|
|
Prisoner’s Rights |
|
|
Rehabilitation as a job of the prisons |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Privacy |
Surveillance Operations |
|
Right to privacy |
Legal concerns |
|
Racial Profiling |
Will public surveillance technology make your |
|
Racism |
city safer or just invade your privacy? |
|
Rainforest Destruction |
Sweatshops |
|
Recording Industry |
Tattoo/Body Piercing |
|
Ethics of the recording industry |
Dangers of tattooing |
|
Recycling |
Teen curfews |
|
Personal responsibility |
Tobacco |
|
Reproduction |
Tobacco regulation |
|
Reproductive Rights |
Smoking bans |
|
Reproductive Technologies (Ethics) |
Transplants |
|
Schools |
Organ transplants |
|
see also: Education |
Vaccinations |
|
Drug testing in schools |
Violence |
|
Corporal punishment in schools |
Teen gangs/Youth violence |
|
Harassment in schools |
Violence on TV |
|
School uniforms |
Flag desecration |
|
Dress codes for students |
Domestic violence |
|
Home schooling |
War |
|
School prayer |
U.S. intervention in Iraq |
|
Religion in the school curriculum |
Gulf War Syndrome |
|
Violence in schools |
War on terrorism |
|
Hazing |
U.S. war crimes |
|
Later start to school day |
Powers of the government during war |
|
Four-day school week |
Weapons of mass destruction |
|
Out-of-school suspension |
Welfare reform |
|
Video camera surveillance in schools |
|
|
Nutritional content of school lunches |
|
|
Longer school day/year |
|
|
Home-schooled students taking part in public |
|
|
school activities |
|
|
Corporate presence in public school (like Pepsi |
|
|
having rights to all drink machines in return |
|
|
for giving the school some of the profit) |
|
|
Single-sex schools |
|
|
Value of pre-schools |
|
|
Fund raising in schools |
|
|
Banning book bags in school |
|
|
Being a “school snitch” (reporting classmates |
|
|
and being rewarded for doing so) |
|
|
Problem of plagiarism in American schools |
|
|
Sex-offender notification |
|
|
Social Security |
|
|
Changes in laws to start benefits later due to |
|
|
increased life span |
|
|
Sports |
|
|
Professional sports salaries |
|
|
Competitive sports being unhealthy for children |
|
|
Gender inequities in school sports |
|
|
Team sports create leaders |
|
|
Subsidies |
|
|
Farm subsidies |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|