NAME:
Periods 1 & 2 Debate Topics
Advertisements do more harm than good
Summary: Is having widespread advertising good for a society?
Context: Advertising has grown to be an industry worth many billions of dollars across the world. Almost
all public space has some advertisements in sight and all forms of media, from newspapers to the
internet, are also filled with adverts. Whilst this helps companies sell their produces, and helps
consumers to learn what is on offer, many believe that this huge amount of advertising can be harmful. It
may make people want too much, or things that they cannot have, or it might make them feel inadequate
when they don't have something. Research shows that children can be particularly open to these kinds of
risk.
Advertising, Targeting of Children
Summary: Should there be a ban on television advertisements aimed at children?
Context: A great deal of advertising on television is aimed at children, promoting not only toys and
sweets but also products such as food, drink, music, films and clothing to young consumers from toddlers
to teenagers. Increasingly this practice is coming under attack from parents’ organizations, politicians and
pressure groups in many countries. Sweden, Ireland, Greece, Italy, Denmark and Belgium all currently
impose restrictions, and these have also been proposed in most other EU countries and in the USA.
Within Europe, the forthcoming EU Television Without Frontiers Directive, due to be issued by 2004, is
likely to focus attention upon the issue as the advertising industry and anti-advertising groups battle over
whether age restrictions should be imposed upon the whole EU in the future. A key factor in any debate
will be the age definition of “children”. Recent campaigns in the USA and Britain have concentrated upon
banning advertising to under-fives watching "toddler-television", but a Swedish proposal for an EU-wide
ban applies to under-12s (a definition which might produce a livelier and more focused debate).
Boarding School
Summary: Is boarding school beneficial to children?
Context: With the popularity of Harry Potter novels the number of children applying to boarding schools
has risen, many of them hoping to find their own version of Hogwarts. However others have interpreted
this trend as a reaction to longer working hours and the break up of more marriages. The boarding
schools of fiction are presented as one long midnight feast with pillow fights forging firm friendships.
However their opponents claim the reality is extended homesickness and a lack of individual attention.
Modern boarding schools have done much to shed the image of the mass dormitories with 40 or more
beds in one room, some going as far as providing en-suite bathrooms to private rooms. Similarly they
make great claims for their academic merit, particularly in light of the increase of exams, coursework and
university entrance requirements facing children wishing to succeed in the modern world. Alongside these
more conventional schools, two types of boarding schools have also become more prevalent recently.
Sports academies and stage schools seek to cater for children with particular interests and talents, while
so-called ‘troubled-teens’ have been able to turn to a range of religious or wilderness schools to solve
their problematic behavior.
Child Performers, Banning
Summary: Should children be allowed to work in the performing arts or professional sports?
Context: Child performers (actors, singers, figure-skaters, gymnasts etc.) often form an exception on the
ban on child labor existing in most countries. Provided with on-set or on-pitch tutors they can train or
perform for many hours each week on top of their schoolwork. For some this results in Olympic medals
or multi-million dollar movies before they reach adulthood. Others are less lucky, gaining little success
for their hard work and suffering physical or emotional damage that hampers their later life. There are
many high profile cases of child actors, like Drew Barrymore who go off the rails with drink and drugs
and equally high profile are the dancers, gymnasts and skaters who struggle with eating disorders.
However successful young football players like Wayne Rooney often attribute their prowess to training
from an early age. Some say removing payment or limiting hours would provide a means to limit the
pressure on child performers while others argue that only an outright ban can truly protect their rights.
Child Offenders, Punishments for
Summary: Is stricter punishment the answer to juvenile crime?
Context: Juvenile justice is the area of criminal law applicable to persons not old enough to be held
responsible for criminal acts. In most states in the US, the age for criminal culpability is set at 18 years. In
England the age of criminal responsibility is 10 years old, Other countries have ages of criminal
responsibility between these extremes, for example, Turkey (14), Romania (12), Greece (12), Spain (15);
Belgium and Luxembourg also both set it at 18. The key issues in this debate are whether we should
punish juveniles more in line with adult punishment, or whether there should be special treatment for
them.
Child Curfews
Summary: Should young people be subjected to night-time curfews as a way to reduce crime?
Context: Youth curfews are widely used in the USA to keep children off the street at night; a state of
curfew makes it illegal to be out of doors between certain publicized times. In the USA over 300 individual
towns have passed local curfew laws that vary in detail, but are all aimed at reducing juvenile crime and
gang activity. In Britain a 1998 law allowed local councils to impose curfews for all children under ten,
although none has yet chosen to do so. In defining the motion the proposition should think about the age
groups at which the curfew is aimed, the hours it would operate, the penalties for offenders and any
possible exceptions, for example, is it permitted to be out in the company of an adult?
Foreign languages, compulsory in schools (JUN)
Summary: Should all school pupils be made to learn at least one foreign language?
Context: In almost all EU countries, all secondary school pupils have to study at least one modern
foreign language until the school leaving age. The exceptions are Italy, the Republic of Ireland and the
UK. In some countries, more than one language is compulsory. Sometimes pupils have to start learning a
language at primary school.
Foreign languages are less often compulsory in English-speaking countries. This is probably because
English is widely understood worldwide. This means that people who speak English often think they don’t
need to bother learning other languages. In the UK (except Scotland), the government makes pupils learn
a foreign language between the ages of 11 and 14. They do not need to study a language after this, but
they must attend school until they are 16. In Scotland, the government does not make pupils study a
foreign language.
In the Republic of Ireland, all pupils learn English and Irish. However, neither of these is considered a
foreign language. Pupils do not have to learn any other languages. Some pupils in Italy stop learning
languages when they are 14. However, some schools in Italy, Ireland and the UK (including Scotland)
make pupils learn modern languages until the school leaving age. Pupils in countries with a
Baccalaureate system (e.g. France) must usually study a foreign language.
The proposition must define this debate especially clearly. What age would pupils have to start learning a
language? For how long? If they stay at school after the minimum leaving age, do they need to carry on
learning a language? Do they have a choice about which language(s) to study? Would they have to take
exams in the language?
School Uniform
Summary: Should schools require their students to wear a school uniform?
Context: In some countries, e.g. Britain and many Caribbean states, it is common for school pupils to
have to wear distinctive uniforms identifying them with a particular institution, especially to the end of
compulsory education at 16. In others, e.g. France, the USA, it is rare for uniforms to be worn, although
some private schools may retain them. In both situations the desirability of school uniforms remains
controversial among students, parents and educationalists. As a result of this some schools have
abandoned uniform at the same time as others have adopted it.
Sport, benefits of (JUNIOR TOPIC)
Summary: Is sport really good for us?
Context: Sport is a reliable topic for good debates. There is always something in the news to make the
issues topical, and even people who don’t usually like debate will want to give their opinion. The
arguments below look at the general case for and against sport as a worthwhile activity. More specific
debates could be also run on particular sporting issues (for example; drugs in sport, physical education in
schools, government funding, amateur versus professional sport, and sports violence). It may be helpful
to start with a few definitions: A sport could be defined as a physical competition played for pleasure.
Those playing amateur (not for pay) sport do so because they enjoy it. Professional sportsmen and
women get paid to compete, but do so because other people enjoy watching them play and pay to see
them. Sport is not the same as a game, which may be competitive but lacks the physical element. Chess
is a good example of a game (perhaps debating is too?). Sport is also not the same as exercise, which
might be done for medical reasons rather than for pleasure. Exercise is also not usually competitive.
Jogging or aerobics are good examples of this. There are many sports in which two individuals can test
their skill, strength and speed against each other (e.g. tennis, squash, sculling, boxing or judo), but most
sports are between two teams.
Vegetarianism
Summary: Is it wrong to eat meat? Should I become a vegetarian?
Context: Most men and women eat meat, although some (mostly in rich countries) eat much more than
others. Almost all of this meat is the flesh of domesticated livestock - animals born and raised on farms to
be killed and sold for their meat. People who make a choice never to eat meat are vegetarians, although
there are different views about what this can mean. Some vegetarians eat fish if it has been caught in the
wild, many will not eat flesh of any sort. Some people are vegans, choosing not to eat any animal product,
include eggs and dairy (milk) foods such as cheese, butter and yoghurt. Vegans and many vegetarians
also refuse to wear leather or fur because it comes from animals. The arguments below are general but
could be adapted to suit particular debates.