150 Fun Debate Topics for Students of All Ages

While debates can get heated, they are a powerful tool for learning. Older kids can debate societal issues while younger children can argue for more innocent and silly ideas. Whatever the topic, students will build critical thinking skills, hone their public speaking abilities, increase their self-confidence, remember more of what they learn, engage respectfully with their peers, and understand that there are more viewpoints and opinions than their own. Here are 150 debate topics to get your students engaged in the learning process.

Debate topics for elementary students

1. Save or spend your allowance?
2. Ketchup or ranch dressing on fries?
3. School uniforms or pick your own clothes?
4. Which is better: the book or the movie?
5. Water park or amusement park?
6. Laptop or tablet?
7. Which is a better pet: a dog or a cat?
8. Which is more fun? The zoo or a museum?
9. Is it better to travel by car or by airplane?
10. Do ghosts exist?
11. Paper or plastic bags?
12. Eat meat or become a vegetarian?
13. Tap water or bottled water?
14. Is it better to give or to receive?
15. Stay up late or get up early?
16. Cartoons or documentaries?
17. Football or soccer?
18. Which would be more fun, a field trip or a day off from school?
19. Is homework educational?
20. Year-round school with 3-day weekends or summer break?
21. Stay at home or go on vacation?
22. Is it more fun to visit the beach or the forest?
23. Hot weather or cold weather?
24. Would you rather take a test or do a large project to show what you know?
25. Should children do chores at home?
26. Soda or Gatorade?
27. Should junk food be banned in the school cafeteria?
28. Vanilla or chocolate ice cream?
29. Which is scarier? Spiders or scorpions?
30. Hamburgers or hot dogs?
31. Would you rather do an art project or play a sport?
32. Which is more dangerous: a lion or a hippo?
33. Would you rather be a police officer or a firefighter?
34. Would you rather ride a bike or a scooter?
35. Skiing or snowboarding?
36. Who was the better president? George Washington or Abraham Lincoln?
37. Is pineapple a good pizza topping?
38. Which superpower would be better: super strength or invisibility?
39. Country music or rock and roll?
40. Swings or slides?
41. Which is more important: math or reading?
42. Should teachers grade handwriting?
43. Which are more fun: video games or board games?
44. Would you rather have a real Christmas tree or a fake one?
45. What is a better place to live: the city or the country?
46. Pencils or pens?
47. Crayons or markers?
48. Are clowns scary or funny?
49. Is it important to make your bed every morning?
50. Hot chocolate or chocolate milkshake?
51. Is Bigfoot real?
52. Who is the better superhero? Batman or Superman?
53. Should kids watch TV during the week?
54. Should you have to go to school on your birthday?
55. Would you rather have a dragon or a unicorn?
56. Cupcakes or cookies?
57. Camping or staying in a hotel?
58. McDonalds or Burger King?
59. Pepsi or Coke?
60. If you could choose to be famous, would you?
61. Indoor or outdoor recess?
62. Would robots be helpful or harmful?
63. Which tastes better? Chocolate or fruit-flavored candy?
64. Tacos or burritos?
65. Should teachers wear a uniform?
66. In-person learning or remote learning?
67. Should teachers make more money than sports players?
68. Would you rather go to space or explore the ocean?
69. Which is more fun? A treehouse or a fort?
70. Scary movies or funny movies?
71. Which would you rather do: a science experiment or an art project?
72. Is it better to buy books or check them out from the library?
73. Which is better? Disneyland or Disneyworld?
74. Which would help you more: learning to cook or learning to sew?
75. Is it more fun to swim in a pool or in the ocean?

Debate topics for middle and high school students

1. Should kids have smartphones?
2. Should anyone under age 18 be allowed to vote for president?
3. Should boys and girls go to different schools?
4. Should kids who can drive be allowed to leave school for lunch?
5. Which is more important: happiness or success?
6. Should children be allowed to use social media?
7. Is it ever OK to cheat?
8. Should high school students have a job?
9. Should schools replace paper and pens with computers?
10. Do sports and movie stars make too much money?
11. Should children be allowed to get tattoos?
12. Do you think computers will ever replace teachers?
13. Should kids be allowed to pray at school?
14. Is the death penalty a good form of punishment?
15. Should all homes have solar panels?
16. Should drugs be made legal?
17. Should schools have armed guards?
18. Should students be allowed to say curse words?
19. Should older kids still get recess?
20. Are dress codes good for schools?
21. Do violent video games make kids more violent?
22. Would you rather have tons of money or live forever?
23. Should everyone go to college?
24. Should schools have surveillance cameras?
25. Vegetarian or eat meat?
26. Should everyone make the team?
27. Is it better to always tell the truth or to always be kind?
28. Is there life on other planets?
29. Would you rather read a fantasy story or a biography?
30. Which is more dangerous: zombies or vampires?
31. Would you rather write a book or a movie script?
32. Play an instrument or play a sport?
33. Musicals or movies?
34. What is the worst day of the week?
35. Is Pluto really a planet or not?
36. Which is more fun? Going out with friends or staying home?
37. Which is a better job: working in a restaurant or working in a store?
38. Is Robin Hood a thief or a hero?
39. Does jail deter criminals?
40. Would you rather have a library card or a credit card?
41. Would you rather be famous with no money or not famous with lots of money?
42. Is it better to be good at school or good at sports?
43. Should students be required to volunteer?
44. Should schools ban books from their libraries?
45. Should schools teach cooking and sewing?
46. Who faces more peer pressure: girls or boys?
47. Should cigarettes be illegal?
48. Should vaccines be mandatory?
49. Should Supreme Court justices have a set term limit?
50. Should countries be able to have nuclear weapons?
51. Is testing on animals good or bad?
52. Is reality television realistic?
53. Should parents track where their kids are using cell phones?
54. Is prom fun or not?
55. Is artificial intelligence good for humans?
56. Is global warming real?
57. Should rich people share their money with poor people?
58. Would you rather read a newspaper or watch the news?
59. Do grades matter?
60. Should teachers stop giving tests?
61. Should you be allowed to use your phone at school whenever you want?
62. Is it cheating for friends to do their homework together?
63. Should kids be allowed to use TikTok?
64. Should parents buy kids everything they want?
65. Should the school day be longer or shorter?
66. Would you rather go to college or get a job after high school?
67. Should teenagers have a curfew?
68. Should kids be considered adults as soon as they turn 18?
69. Would having a lot of money make life easier?
70. Are teenagers overscheduled?
71. What is the right amount of homework?
72. Should schools have metal detectors?
73. Are group projects or independent projects better?
74. Is breakfast the most important meal of the day?
75. Is elementary or high school more fun?

Take your teaching to a higher level by introducing one or more of these debate topics into your lesson plans. You might even ask your students to come up with their own debate topics so they can discuss what interests them. As they research and discuss, your students will learn so much about the debate topic while considering a wide variety of viewpoints and ideas.