Abstinence programs

Do they work?

Advertising

Should certain kinds of ads be banned in the interest of health/morality/annoyance – alcohol, cigarettes, prescription meds, etc…?

Africa

Why so many wars? What’s the solution?

Arming pilots

Good idea?

Airplane accidents?

Who is responsible? Should families of victims be entitled to compensation?

Al Qaida

Has U.S. policy actually spread terrorism rather than contain it? Will it get better or worse? Why and how?

Alcohol

In Sweden, alcohol can be bought only in bars. Should the U.S. have the same law?

Animal rights

Should it be illegal to use animals for sports and entertainment?

Art

A few years ago, an artist was criticized for depicting the Virgin Mary with elephant dung. When is art not really art?

Athletes in high schools

Should shoe companies be able to give away free shoes and equipment to high school athletes?

Beauty contests

Do they serve any purpose in society?

Bird Flu

Media hype or serious threat?

Bridges, roads, waterways

Why the government gets a bad report card on America’s infrastructure

Cell phones

How have they changed us socially?

Censorship

Should parents censor textbooks and other literature for children in schools?

Cheap labor

U.S. companies that move factories to undeveloped nations barely pay employees enough to live on. Is it unethical to pay cheap wages or are companies doing those workers a favor?

Child soldiers

Why and how children are used for war

Church arson

Hate crime?

Civil disobedience

Is breaking the law for a cause justifiable?

Civil unions

If civil couples have the same rights/privileges of married people, why get married?

Climate change

Is global warming a hoax? Is it being exaggerated?

College athletics

Many athletes accept scholarships and then jump to professional sports in a year or two, while non-athletes who actually want an education struggle to pay tuition. Should athletes have to graduate with a degree as a condition of their scholarship? If they don’t graduate should they have to pay back the money?

Credit cards

Why are so many Americans in credit card debt?

Cyber crime

What are the latest ways to steal identity and money?

Divorce

Should we reform laws to make it harder to get a divorce?

Do Not Call list

Is it Constitutional to prevent companies from calling potential customers?

Electoral College

Al Gore won the popular vote in 2000 but lost the election because Bush won the electoral college. Should we scrap the electoral college?

Electronic information preservation

Does the Information Age mean we are losing important historical information?

Exams

Exams often do little more than measure a person’s ability to take exams. Should exams be outlawed in favor of another form of assessment?

Fast food

Are we taking it too far by blaming fast food restaurants for obesity? When is it individual responsibility and when is it appropriate to place blame?

Fear

What role does fear play in politics?

Felons and voting

Should convicted felons have the right to vote?

Female genital mutilation

Culture practice or child abuse?

Feminism

Is feminism still relevant? How do young women view feminism?

Fitness programs

Should companies allow employees to exercise on work time?

Flag

Should children be required to say the Pledge of Allegiance in schools?

Food

Steroids. Anitbiotics. Sprays. Are food manufacturers killing us?

Gap year

Should teens in the U.S. adopt the British custom of taking a “gap year” between high school and college?

Generations

How 4 different generations in the workplace can work together.

God

Does God exist? Prove it.

Grades

In some European schools, fewer than 10% of students get As. Is there grade inflation in the U.S.? Why so many As for Americans?

Health care crisis

Most developed nations have universal health coverage. Why doesn’t the U.S., the wealthiest nation, have it?

Holocaust

Should denial of the Holocaust be illegal?

Homeland Security

Are we safer since the creation of this department?

Honors classes

Good for honors students… bad for mainstream students? Why are schools eliminating honors programs?

Hurricane Katrina

What was the federal response? Did race affect the response?

Infidelity

In some states, it is illegal to cheat on a spouse. Should we prosecute cheaters? Is a law that’s not enforced really a law?

Internet and children

Are children smarter (or more socialized) because of the Internet?

Intersexuals

What, if anything, should be done medically and socially?

Iraq War

Is America winning or losing the War? What is the measurement of success? Have the benefits outweighed the costs?

Iraq War Vets

Are they being cheated on medical benefits?

Journalism

Should newspaper reporters be required to reveal their sources?

Juvenile offenders

Should juvenile offenders be tried and punished as adults?

Kyoto Protocol

Should the U.S. join Kyoto to curb greenhouse gases?

Lead poisoning

Should the U.S. stop importing Chinese-manufactured toys?

Literacy

Are Americans “literate?”

Malpractice

How can we balance the need to lower the cost of malpractice insurance with the fact that physician malpractice is one of the leading causes of death?

Marriage

Are arranged marriages unethical?

Military

Should the U.S. have mandatory military conscriptions? For whom?

Mining

What safety measures made the recent Canadian mining accident a non-casualty event, while recent U.S. mining accidents have been fatal?

Models

Should there be a minimum weight limit?

Moms

Should stay-at-home moms get a salary from the government?

Muslim Americans

What is life for them like in the U.S. after September 11, 2001?

No Child Left Behind Act

Is it working?

Noise pollution

How much is too much noise? What, if anything, should we do to curb it?

Nonverbal communication

How do men and women communicate differently using body language, and why does it matter (in dating, the workplace, social circles)?

Obesity and weight loss

Should thin people have to pay Medicare and other health costs for the health problems of obese people? Should obese people have higher premiums?

Oil companies

Do oil companies make big bucks while the rest of us pay over $3 a gallon?

Olympics

Does China deserve to host the 2008 Olympics?

Organ sale

Should we legalize the sale of human organs?

Overpopulation

What would happen globally if the demand for natural resources is greater than the supply?

Paparazzi

What, if any, limitations should be applied to the paparazzi?

Parents

Should parents be held responsible when their children break laws?

Pornography

Parental filters on the Internet. Does censorship actually increase curiosity and use of pornography?

Prescription medicines

Why won’t the FDA allow cheaper generics to be imported from Canada?

Privacy

Should the government be allowed to wire tap without permission?

Privacy

What medical information should be confidential? Who, if anybody, should have access to medical records?

Public figures

Does the public have a right to know about a public figure’s private life?

Racial bias in media

Does news coverage favor whites?

Religion

Is there one true religion?

Road rage

Why do normally patient people become impatient behind the wheel?

School lunches

Should government impose restrictions on what kinds of foods can be served in school cafeterias?

School uniforms

Pros and cons of school uniforms.

Sex offenders

Once they leave prison, are laws about where they may live and be employed unfair?

Single sex schools

Do children learn better in boys-only and girls-only schools?

Social anxiety

How is it different from shyness? And, are we a society of anxiety?

Spanking

Should it be outlawed?

Sports parents

What are the effects on children whose parents push them in sports?

Statutory rape

Recently, a 17-year-old boy was sentenced to 10 years in prison for having consensual oral sex with a 15-year-old girl. Are statutory rape laws patronizing to girls and discriminatory to boys?

Steroids

Should they be legalized?

Suicide bombers

What kind of person becomes a suicide bomber?

Terrorism

Can terrorism ever be justified?

Title IX

Has it helped women’s sports? Has it harmed men’s sports?

Tough love

Does parental “tough love” really work?

Toys

Do certain children’s toys create social or emotional problems?

Wage gap

Women still earn only 75 cents for every $1 a man earns. Explain why.

Wages

There’s a minimum wage, but should there also be a maximum wage/salary a person can earn?

Wildfires

A future form of terrorism?

Women in the clergy

Should women be priests, pastors, ministers, and rabbis?

Workaholics

Do Americans work too hard? Does working more actually reduce productivity? Is a 40-hour work week too much? Should there be a mandatory cap on the number of hours a person can work? Should there be changes in employment laws to give Americans more relaxation time?