100 Debate Topics for Kids

Is cereal a soup?

Then ask: What makes soup a soup: the bowl, the spoon, or the fact that it is hot?

Are cats better than dogs?

Then ask: What can a dog owner say that a cat owner cannot answer?

Should pineapple go on pizza?

Then ask: If people like it, does anyone get to say it is wrong?

Is it better to be a superhero or a supervillain?

Then ask: Who has more fun, and who has more friends?

Would a pirate make a better teacher than a robot?

Then ask: What would each one be terrible at?

Should socks always match?

Then ask: Who is hurt if they do not?

Is the middle of the cake better than the edge?

Then ask: What does the edge piece have that the middle does not?

Should weekends be three days long?

Then ask: What would we have to give up to get the extra day?

Are dinosaurs cooler than dragons?

Then ask: Does it count that one of them was real?

Should kids wear school uniforms?

Then ask: Would uniforms stop kids from judging each other, or would they find something else?

Should kids get to pick what they learn one day a week?

Then ask: What would you pick, and what might you never find out about?

Should there be school on Saturdays if summer break got longer?

Then ask: Which one would you miss more by August?

Should kids be allowed to have phones at school?

Then ask: What problem would it solve, and what new one would it make?

Should grades be replaced with written notes from the teacher?

Then ask: Which would tell your parents more?

Should students help choose their teachers?

Then ask: Would kids pick the easiest teacher or the best one?

Should every school have a class garden?

Then ask: Who would take care of it in the summer?

Is it better to sit at desks in rows or at tables in groups?

Then ask: When does sitting with friends help you learn, and when does it get in the way?

Should the school day end at noon on Fridays?

Then ask: What would happen to the things you learn on Friday afternoons now?

Should the youngest kid in the family get to stay up as late as the oldest?

Then ask: What does staying up later actually depend on?

Is it better to be the oldest child or the youngest?

Then ask: What does the oldest one get to do first, and what does the youngest one get away with?

Should kids help decide where the family goes on vacation?

Then ask: How would you make it fair if everyone wanted something different?

Should kids have to finish everything on their plate?

Then ask: What happens to food that does not get eaten?

Should parents read their kids' messages?

Then ask: What would make it fair for a parent to look, and what would make it unfair?

Should every family eat dinner together every night?

Then ask: What happens to a family that never does?

Should kids pick their own clothes, even for special events?

Then ask: Who is the outfit for: you or the people at the event?

Is it fair for older kids to look after younger ones?

Then ask: What does the older kid learn from it?

Should kids be allowed to paint their own room any color they want?

Then ask: Whose room is it, and whose house is it?

Should kids have a daily screen time limit?

Then ask: Is an hour of drawing on a tablet the same as an hour of videos?

Are board games better than video games?

Then ask: Which one is better at teaching you to lose?

Should kids under 13 be allowed on social media?

Then ask: What would a 10-year-old need to know before joining?

Is it better to read a book or watch the movie?

Then ask: Name a movie that was better than the book. Why was it?

Should kids be allowed to make their own videos online?

Then ask: Who might see it that you did not expect?

Should video games count as a sport?

Then ask: What makes something a sport: sweat, skill or competition?

Should phones be banned at the dinner table, for grown-ups too?

Then ask: What if a grown-up is waiting for an important call?

Is it okay for an AI to help with homework?

Then ask: Where does help end and doing it for you begin?

Should every kid learn to code?

Then ask: What would they stop learning to make time for it?

Should every family have a pet?

Then ask: What about families with no time, no money or an allergy?

Should people be allowed to own exotic pets like snakes or monkeys?

Then ask: Who speaks up for the animal?

Is it better to live in the city or the countryside?

Then ask: What would you miss most if you moved to the other one?

Should people stop cutting down trees to build houses?

Then ask: Where would new families live?

Should plastic toys be banned?

Then ask: What would toys be made of instead, and would they cost more?

Should kids spend at least an hour outside every day?

Then ask: What about rainy days and kids who live in apartments?

Is it wrong to step on a spider?

Then ask: Does it matter if the spider is in your house or in the woods?

Should people bring back extinct animals if science lets them?

Then ask: Where would a mammoth live today?

Should every town have a no-cars day once a month?

Then ask: How would people who cannot walk far get around?

Should kids be allowed to have dessert every day?

Then ask: Does a small dessert every day beat a big one on weekends?

Is breakfast the most important meal of the day?

Then ask: How would you check if that is true?

Should candy ads be allowed on kids' TV shows?

Then ask: Do ads change what you want, or do you decide for yourself?

Should everyone learn to cook before they turn 12?

Then ask: What is the one dish everyone should know?

Is it okay to be a picky eater?

Then ask: What happens when a picky eater goes to a friend's house for dinner?

Should fast food restaurants give out toys with meals?

Then ask: Who is the toy really for?

Should people grow some of their own food?

Then ask: What would you grow, and what if it does not come up?

Is pizza a healthy meal if it has vegetables on it?

Then ask: What would make it healthy, and who gets to say?

Should everyone eat less meat?

Then ask: What would change for farmers if they did?

Is winning the most important part of a game?

Then ask: Why do people keep playing games they always lose?

Should kids' games keep score before age 8?

Then ask: Do little kids keep score in their heads anyway?

Should recess have a rule that everyone can join any game?

Then ask: What happens to a game that gets too big?

Is cheating okay if nobody gets hurt?

Then ask: Is there such a thing as cheating where nobody gets hurt?

Should kids play just one sport or try many?

Then ask: How do you get really good at something if you keep switching?

Should tag be allowed at recess?

Then ask: How would you make it safe without banning it?

Should there be a mercy rule that ends a game when one team is way ahead?

Then ask: Who is the rule really for: the winners or the losers?

Is it better to be on a team that always wins or one where you play every game?

Then ask: Which team would make you better?

Should grown-ups stay out of kids' games?

Then ask: When does a game need a grown-up?

Should kids get an allowance even if they do nothing?

Then ask: What is an allowance for: to reward or to teach?

Is it okay to tell a small lie to protect someone's feelings?

Then ask: What if they find out later?

Should the person who finds lost money get to keep it?

Then ask: Does the amount change your answer?

Is it fair that grown-ups make most of the rules for kids?

Then ask: Which rule would you write, and who would it be unfair to?

Should you tell a teacher if a friend is breaking a rule?

Then ask: Does it matter which rule it is?

Should everyone get a prize just for taking part?

Then ask: What would make a real prize mean less?

Is it fair to save seats for your friends?

Then ask: How does it feel to be the one who cannot sit down?

Should kids be punished for something they did by accident?

Then ask: What should happen instead, if something still got broken?

Is it okay to keep a secret from your parents?

Then ask: What kind of secret is okay, and what kind is not?

Should kids have a say in the rules of their school?

Then ask: How would you make sure every kid gets heard, not just the loud ones?

Should kids be allowed to have a part-time job before they turn 14?

Then ask: What would they learn, and what would they miss?

Should every kid learn a second language?

Then ask: Which language, and who chooses?

Should money be spent on going to Mars or on fixing problems on Earth?

Then ask: Could going to Mars help fix problems here?

Should robots do jobs that people do now?

Then ask: What should the people who did those jobs do next?

Is it better to be famous or to be happy without anyone knowing you?

Then ask: Can you be both, and what would that take?

Should museums give back objects that came from other countries?

Then ask: Who should own a thing that is thousands of years old?

Should everyone do a year of community service after high school?

Then ask: What if someone has to work to help their family?

Should there be a minimum age for owning a smartphone?

Then ask: What age, and what would have to be true about a kid to be ready?

Should cars drive themselves?

Then ask: Who is to blame if a self-driving car makes a mistake?

Should schools be online instead of in a building?

Then ask: What would you miss that does not happen in a lesson?

Would it be good if people lived to 200?

Then ask: What would change about being a kid?

Should there be a robot in every home?

Then ask: What should a home robot never be allowed to do?

Should cash money disappear?

Then ask: Who would have a hard time without cash?

If we could control the weather, should we?

Then ask: Who decides when it rains?

Should everyone have a flying car?

Then ask: What would the sky look like at rush hour?

Should kids be able to talk to an AI friend?

Then ask: What can a real friend do that an AI cannot?

Will kids in 100 years think our toys were boring?

Then ask: What toy from today do you think will still be around?