IDEAS
Looking for a topic you can really sink your teeth into? The best topic is one that you truly care about, and one that you're prepared to
research. You'll have to back up your claim (whichever side you choose) with lots of evidence and support. Here is a list of Controversial
Topics to get you started:
1. Did the 11 September 2001 attack on the World trade Center justify 8. If you are willing to foist your moral opinions on other people, are you
the attack on Iraq? as willing to take personal responsibility for those? How have you done it
2. Do you think that Public Surveillance Technology will make your city so far?
safer or just invade your privacy? 9. Is the Quota/Reservation System in India really going to bring about
3. The Western Countries make a great deal out of 'Free Speech Rights'. social equality? Wouldn't it be better to implement a quota by economic
So then, was it right to jail David Irving for questioning the existence of standards instead of caste?
the Holocaust? 10. Do you think Iran scored a considerable political point recently with
4. If it is alright for the Danish Cartoonists to mock Mohamed, why is it the arrest and subsequent release of the 15 British sailors? Have you
horrendous for the Iranian Cartoonists to mock the Holocaust? noted the difference between their treatment and the treatment meted
5. Will implementing Gun Control laws help? Will they bring down the out to the Prisoners at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo?
crime level? Or simply make it difficult for people to defend themselves? 11. What does the existence of places like Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo
6. Does the Death Sentence have a negative effect on our social fabric? say about the democratic and freedom-loving principles of the United
Why? Wouldn't it be a positive thing in fact to have all the rapists, States?
pedophiles, and murderers taken out? 12. Should certain breeds of dogs, like the Pit Bull for example, be
7. If you are a Pro-Life person, how can you still eat meat? banned?
Here are more topics are sure to spark some interest.
1. Is global climate change man-made? 20. Should companies market to children? 34. Should the alcoholic drinking age be
2. Is the death penalty effective? 21. Should the government have a say in our increased or decreased?
3. Is our election process fair? diets? 35. Does age matter in relationships?
4. Do colleges put too much stock in 22. Does access to condoms prevent teen 36. What age is appropriate for dating?
standardized test scores? pregnancy? 37. Should gay couples be able to marry?
5. Is torture ever acceptable? 23. Does access to condoms foster 38. Are there benefits to attending a single-sex
6. Should men get paternity leave from work? irresponsible, dangerous, or bad behavior? school?
7. Is a lottery a good idea? 24. Are actors and professional athletes paid 39. Does boredom lead to trouble?
8. Do we have a fair taxation system? too much? 40. Does participation in sports keep teens out
9. Do curfews keep teens out of trouble? 25. Are CEO’s paid too much? of trouble?
10. Is cheating out of control? 26. Do violent video games cause behavior 41. Is competition good?
11. Are we too dependent on computers? problems? 42. Does religion cause war?
12. Are parents clueless about child predators 27. Should creationism be taught in public 43. Should the government provide health
on the Internet? schools? care?
13. Should animals be used for research? 28. Are beauty pageants exploitive? 44. Should girls ask boys out?
14. Should cigarette smoking be banned? 29. Should English be the official language in 45. Is fashion important?
15. Are cell phones dangerous? the United States? 46. Are girls too mean to each other?
16. Are law enforcement cameras an invasion 30. Should the racing industry be forced to use 47. Is homework harmful or helpful?
of privacy? biofuels? 48. Should students be allowed to grade their
17. Are test scores a good indication of a 31. When should parents let teens make their teachers?
school’s competency? own decisions? 49. Is the cost of college too high?
18. Do we have a throw-away society? 33. Should the military be allowed to recruit at 50. Is college admission too competitive?
19. Is child behavior better or worse than it was high schools?
years ago?
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Remember: controversial topics are issues about which people have very strong yet divergent feelings and opinions, which lead to much debate and
argument. These feelings and opinions may be due to religious, social, or political beliefs. Controversial topics tend to polarize people, who often make
strong arguments for and against the subjects. Here are more topics:
Abortion Environmental Ethics McCarthyism School Violence
Advertising Ethics Euthanasia Media and Terrorism School Vouchers
Affirmative Action Evolution Media Images of African-Americans Search and Seizure (Fourth
Animal Rights False Memory Media Images of Women Amendment)
Anti-Semitism Female Genital Mutilation Media in Wartime Separation of Church and State
Assisted Suicide Foreign Aid Medical Ethics Sex Education
Australian Aborigines Free Speech Medical Marijuana Shakespeare Authorship
Bilingual Education Freedom of the Press Medical Malpractice Controversy
Bioethics Gay Parents Mental Health Policy Smoking Laws
Biotechnology Gay Rights Minimum Wage Social Security
Business Ethics Gays in the Military Miranda Rule Standardized Testing
Capital Punishment Globalization Multiculturalism Stem Cell Research
Censorship Gun Control NAFTA Steroids
Civil Liberties and Anti-Terrorism Harry Potter Controversy Nuclear and Hazardous Waste Surrogate Motherhood
Measures Hate Crimes Nuclear Proliferation Tax Reform
Class Action Lawsuits Hate Speech Pharmaceutical Industry Teenage Pregnancy
Cloning Health Care Reform PLO Tobacco Industry
Conscientious Objectors Holocaust Denial Pornography Debate Transracial Adoption
Corporate Corruption Holocaust Reparations Prescription Drug Reform USA Patriot Act
Corporate Responsibility Home Schooling Privacy Violence in the Media
Creationism Homelessness Pro-Choice Movement War on Terrorism
Dress Codes in School Illegal Immigration Pro-Life Movement Women in the Military
Drug Legalization Intelligent Design (ID) Right to Bear Arms (Second Working Mothers
Drug Testing Landmines Amendment) Workplace Diversity
Ebonics and Black English Legal Drinking Age Rigoberta Menchu Controversy Year Round School
Endangered Species Maori People Ritual Abuse
And even more to think about
Abortion Homeless Taxation - Americans For Fair Taxation
Activism Human Rights Texas Freedom Network
Adbusters Identity Theft Texas Toll [Road] Party
Affirmative Action Immigration Texas Toll Roads
Alternate Movie Awards Independent Media Center Texas Watch
America's Global Role Inequality Tobacco Control
America's Uninsured International Religious Freedom Treasure Hunters
Antibiotic Resistance Internet Issues Uganda in Eastern DRC
Arsenic in Drinking Water Internet Speech Urban Mobility Report, 2001
Assessing the New Federalism Internet Speech - "Filters Face Free-Speech Test" U.S. Crime Statistics
Attacks on the Press in 2000 Issues 2002 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Bill of Rights Defense Committee Justice for the Poor Fact Sheets
Bioethical Issues Justice Learning U.S. Political Prisoners
Birth Control and Reproductive Rights Labor U.S. Patriot Act
Death Penalty and Offenders with Mental American History Veterans - Project SHAD
Retardation Lisl Auman Violence Against Women In Times of War
California Energy Crisis Lobbying Kids Violence Against Women
Capitalism Male Bashing on TV Wal-Mart's Female Trouble
Capital Punishment Male Rape in U.S. Prisons Wal-Mart - Thanks for Shopping at Wal-Mart--
Censorship Manipulation of the Media NOT
Child Care Marijuana War Crimes
Child Injury Deaths - UNICEF Innocenti Report "The Media is the Mess" War in Chechnya; Disappearances, Torture and
Card Media Issues Summary Executions
Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) Medical Research Issues Washington, DC
Chip Implants Approved Medicare Who Owns America
Chile - Progress Stalled Setbacks in Freedom of Medicine and Madison Avenue Women, Minorities and the Disabled in the
Expression Reform The Men Who Sold the Moon Sciences
CIA & Drugs MidEast Web for Coexistence Women's Issues & Studies
Clean Up Texas Politics Military Facts Workplace Surveillance Project
College Drinking MOST Clearing House on Religious Rights Youth Violence
Consumer Health Myth that the U.S. is the best place to live http://www.buzzle.com/articles/controversial-
Corporate Crime Reporter National Issues topics-in-america.html
Corporate Crimes National Lawyers Guild http://www.questia.com/library/sociology-and-
Corporation Watch National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana anthropology/social-issues/controversial-
Corporations and Human Rights Laws (NORML) topics.jsp
Corporations - RT Mark No War Collective http://homeworktips.about.com/od/essaywriting/a/
Covering the Uninsured Nuclear Issues argumenttopics.htm
Crime The Pentagon's Spies
Death penalty Plagiarism
Debate Central Police Brutality and Accountability
Democracy as Class Struggle Policy Library
Democracy for the Few Politics and Science
New and Reemerging Diseases Poverty
Doctors, Questionable Poverty and Welfare
Domestic Violence Public Opinion Poll Database
Drug war/legalization Queer Theory
The Economy Quiet Censorship in Hollywood
Education Racial Profiling Data Collection Systems
Environmental Health Racism
The Environment Issue Railroad Use of Remote Controls
Espy, Alphonso Michael, Secretary of Agriculture Recidivism of Prisoners Released in 1994
Ethics Repression of Political Dissidence
Ethics in the Professions Reproductive Rights
The Family Reproductive Technologies
Family Poverty Republican Politics
Fascism Right to Die/Euthanasia
Fast Food Nation Safeguarding the Vote
The Federal Budget School and State, Alliance for the Separation of
Feudalism alias American Capitalism Science - Ethical, Legal, and Social Issues
First Amendment Center Scientific and Medical Aspects of Human
Freedom of Religion or Belief Reproductive Cloning
Gender Issues Secondhand effects of Student Alcohol Use
Gender & Sexism Sex Education Gets Sacked
George Bush Sexual Harassment Resources
George W. Bush's War on Women Sexual Orientation
Global Issues that Affect Everyone Sexual Victimization of College Women
Global warming Shame on the AFMA
Globalization (economic) Slavery
Government Documents in the News Smoking
Grand Jury Abuse Social Criticism Review
Green Party of Texas Social Security
Gun Control Sontag, Susan
Hackers Stem Cell Debate
Health Care Stem Cell Registry, NIH Human Embryonic
Health Care Reform Stem Cells
Hemp Clothing Students Against Testing
Holocaust Denial On Trial Survivors First