UPDATED OCTOBER 2015 PERSUSIVE SPEECH TOPICS SUPPORTED BY PRINT RESOURCES IN MMS LIBRARY Addiction -­‐-­‐ Internet, Nicotine, Gambling, Leads to Brain Disease Yes/No, Genetic Factors Contribute Yes/No, Addiction: 12 Step Programs Yes/No // spirituality helps/not; methadone programs effective/not; government regulation helps/not Addictive Personality – determined by personality traits; con: created through an illness of addiction Advertising AIDS Alternatives to Prison / Prisoner Treatment American Values American's Youth: Values, Behavior, Risks Angels Animal Rights / Animal Experimentation -­‐-­‐ ethical Astrology Athletes as Role Models Athletes: men and women equal access Athletics: a big business, race issues, drug issues, drug testing needed? Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Biological and Chemical Weapons Biomass: energy from plants and animals Biomedical Ethics Black Magic and Witches Bullying Can Diets Be Harmful -­‐ Promote Healthy Lifestyle / Diets Don't Promote a Healthy Lifestyle // Fast Food vs. Slow Food // Leads to Eating Disorders // Vegetarian Diet Good/Bad // French Diets Healthier Than American Diets Capital Punishment Cell Phone—Driving // cell phone use impact teenagers // cell phone use dangerous // cell phone addiction Cheating Chemical Dependency: drug abuse; smoking; prescription drug abuse; addiction is a brain disease/not; caused by genetics; needle-­‐exchange programs; drug tests for pregnant women; minimum mandatory sentences Child Labor CIA: more power/less power; covert action justified/not justified; promotes peace/promotes violence Climate Change Cloning Crime and Criminals Cyberbullying / Online Bullying Cyberwar UPDATED OCTOBER 2015 PERSUSIVE SPEECH TOPICS SUPPORTED BY PRINT RESOURCES IN MMS LIBRARY Death and Dying Death Penalty Diets: are they harmful? Distracted Driving Does the World hate the United States? Doping Athletes and Drugs (eBook) Downloading Copyrighted Stuff From the Internet Stealing/Fair Use Downloading music Dress Codes Drug Legalization Drunk Driving – teen drunk and distracted driving Electronic Devices in School Endangered Species -­‐ Extinction a problem Yes/No // Can be preserved Yes/No // Take Priority Over Other Social Issues Yes/No /// Humans are Endangered Yes/No Energy -­‐ Oil Plentiful/Oil Running Out // Develop Alternatives/Alternatives Harmful // Nuclear Power Efficient and Safe/Not Efficient and Safe // Solar Energy Good/Bad // Wind Energy Good/Bad // Hydrogen Power Good/Bad // Renewable should replace fossil fuels Energy Sources Environment: environmental crisis exist/not exist; American lifestyle bad for environment ESP / Psychics Euthanasia / Terminal Illness Fall of the Roman Empire Fast Food / Obesity Food Safety Gambling Gangs Genetic Engineering Ghosts and Poltergeists Global Warming // Climate Change Green World: clean environment vs. growing economy; manmade problem/natural change Gun control – reduce violence? Hate Groups / Hate Crimes Home Schooling / Education Homeland Security Homeless UPDATED OCTOBER 2015 PERSUSIVE SPEECH TOPICS SUPPORTED BY PRINT RESOURCES IN MMS LIBRARY Human Embryo Experimentation Human Rights: torture; medicine; native americans; are/are not universal Hunting Illegal Immigration (eBook) Immigration: out of control/too many illegal immigrants, affect economy, cause racism/lead to interracial crisis, Harmful to society? Interracial America Is There Life After Death Israeli-­‐Palestinian Conflict: can/cannot be resolved, should the US be involved Issues in the Information Age: Computer Use, Internet to be Censored, Privacy Protection, Privacy vs. Security, Cyberspace bringing people together or apart, has benefited/not benefited society, created new economy, government regulation King Arthur Legalizing Marijuana Lost Colony of Roanoke Mass Media / TV News Media Violence Medical Marijuana – necessary? Mental Illness -­‐-­‐ Genetic/Not Genetic // Influenza Caused/Not Caused // Psychotherapy Effective/Not Effective // Drug Therapy Yes/No // Should Be Institutionalized Yes/No // Should be Jailed Yes/No // Insanity Defense Yes/No Middle East Modern Day Slavery / Human Trafficking Neo-­‐Nazis Online Activities: how they affect society = How do online activities affect youth? Are online activities addictive? Do online activities promote antisocial behavior? Online Privacy Organ Transplant / Biomedical Ethics / Genetics Paranormal Phenomena / Ghosts and poltergeists / Haunted Houses Patriot Act Performance-­‐Enhancing Drugs: ok/not Police Brutality Police Corruption Psychics: Fact or Fiction Pyramids Racial Differences Cause Segregation: Affirmative Action/good-­‐bad, interracial families/encourage-­‐eliminate, transracial adoption/should-­‐should not be allowed UPDATED OCTOBER 2015 PERSUSIVE SPEECH TOPICS SUPPORTED BY PRINT RESOURCES IN MMS LIBRARY Rap Music: impact on culture, harmful to women, promotes violence Religion in Schools Satanism School Violence Scientifically Engineered Foods -­‐ Good/Bad Shamans Smoking – banned? Social Networking-­‐-­‐ Sites: Are they Harmful // Beneficial to Society // online activities affecting society positively/negatively Sportsmanship in Youth Athletics (eBook) Standardized Testing Stem Cell Research Stonehenge Student Drug Testing Teen Dropouts Teen Fads: fun, foolish, or fatal Teen pregnancy Terrorism TV News -­‐ Can It Be Trusted UFOs Unicorns Vaccinations for Youth – make mandatory? Video Games: violent, harmful to children; ratings; addiction; gender stereotypes; therapeutic purposes Violence: violent crime getting worse, youth violence, domestic violence, caused by gender Voodoo War on Terror: Controversies / How Should the US treat prisoners in the War on Terror? Water Monsters Welfare: government responsibility vs. citizen responsibility // NEW ASPECT THIS LEG. SESSION: Drug testing required to receive? World War II Book Series to Search: At Issue Fact or Fiction? Great Mysteries Issues in Focus UPDATED OCTOBER 2015 Hot Pro/Con Issues In Controversy PERSUSIVE SPEECH TOPICS SUPPORTED BY PRINT RESOURCES IN MMS LIBRARY