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Whether your middle schoolers love to express their opinions or prefer to stay quiet during class discussions, learning how to debate is a valuable skill that they’ll need later in life. It teaches them to take others’ perspectives, consider opposing views, and strengthen their own positions on issues they care about.
While 6th, 7th, and 8th graders may be a little young for highly charged political arguments, many engaging debate topics for middle school can teach them important communication skills without bringing in adult topics. Use these junior high debate topics as bell ringers, writing ideas, or formal debates to help students to find their voices in discussions with their peers.
Quick Debate Topics for Middle School
Use these quick debate topics as warm-up activities or writing prompts for middle school students to practice taking a stand.
- Is pepperoni the best pizza topping?
- Are rats good pets?
- Is it better to have Monday off or Friday off?
- Is the A-F grading system a good one?
- Should we spend more money looking for aliens?
- Are chopsticks better than a fork and knife?
- Is plane travel better than car travel?
- Is it fair for parents to punish bad grades?
- Should pets be allowed in schools?
- Should dessert come before dinner?
- Could AI take over jobs today?
- Should our city have more buses?
- Should summer break be longer?
- Is camping more fun than staying in a hotel?
- Should people be allowed to have elephants as pets?
Introduce basic debate skills to middle school students
Just because your middle schoolers love to argue doesn’t mean they can debate! Use introductory resources to frontload debate skills before you begin a full argumentative speaking unit.
Classroom Debate Unit for Grades 4-7 by Coach’s Corner
By Coach’s Corner
Grades: 4th-7th
Subject: English Language Arts
This debate basics unit includes a list of suggested topics, schedules, debate rules, and a teacher assessment rubric for a lesson that spans four regular class periods.
Introduction to Debate – Silent Debate
By Middle School Cafe
Grades: 6th-9th
Subjects: English Language Arts, Social Studies
Not every debate requires speaking! Try a silent debate resource that prompts middle schoolers to write their claims, warrants, impacts, and other reasons along with their main proposition and side of the debate.
Relevant Middle School Debate Topics
Connect debate topics to middle schoolers’ everyday lives with concepts they care about to really engage them. These ideas work well as sociology questions for junior high as well as discussion questions that address CCSS for speaking and listening.
- Should math be optional?
- Should parents be able to control preteens’ internet access?
- Is it a good idea for kids to be actors?
- Are video games good for kids?
- Should online videos be allowed to include ads in the middle?
- Is 12 a good age for kids to get a smartphone?
- Does school start too early in the morning?
- Should middle schoolers be able to watch R-rated movies?
- At what age should kids be allowed to vote?
- Is it okay for kindergartners to use tablets in class?
- Should schools offer free lunch to everyone?
- Should homework be outlawed?
- Do you think teachers should be paid more?
- Should healthcare be free?
- Should elementary school last until 8th grade?
- Should middle schoolers be allowed to date?
- Is it a good idea for every country to have an official language?
- Is homeschooling better than regular schooling?
Integrate debate topics into reading responses
Everything students read can be a potential debate topic. Use resources focused on nonfiction reading passages to inspire middle schoolers’ sense of curiosity and sharpen their argumentative speaking skills.
High Interest Nonfiction Passages with Debate Topics
By Creative Speech Lab
Grades: 4th-8th
Subject: English Language Arts
This differentiated, no-prep ELA resource combines reading comprehension and argumentative skills. With 10 original nonfiction passages and accompanying photographs, it encourages students to respond to the highly interesting debate topics.
Imaginative Junior High Debate Topics
Take a break from reality with debate topics that bring in sci-fi, fantasy, or out-of-the-box ideas! They make great debate prompts for middle school ELA activities that combine narrative and argumentative writing skills.
- Would a day as a fish or a day as a bird be more fun?
- Should a king have to pay taxes to his kingdom?
- What superhero would win the most gold medals in the Olympics?
- Would you rather be in a vampire movie or a zombie movie?
- Is it better to be a movie hero or a movie villain?
- What rules should shapeshifters have to live by?
- If time travel were real, should you need a license to do it?
- Would it be illegal for superheroes to skip buying plane tickets and just fly to their destinations?
- Should AI entities be allowed to get married to each other?
- If magic were real, should the government be allowed to regulate it?
- Does it count as stealing if you’re magnetic and money sticks to you when you walk by?
- If we colonize the moon, who should be allowed to go?
- Should there be a button that lets you skip boring moments?
- Should pirate captains be elected to their positions?
Teach middle schoolers to take new perspectives
Seeing your argument through another person’s point of view is one of the most important debate skills for middle schoolers to master. Use resources that focus on counterarguments or alternative perspectives to help students see their topic through a new view.
Mini-Debate & Perspective Taking Activity with Argument Organizer + 20 Topics
By Basically Speeching
Grades: 6th-9th
Subjects: Social Emotional Learning, Speaking & Listening
Can your middle schoolers understand an argument from both points of view? Use a lesson that focuses on perspective-taking skills to teach students how to think flexibly when developing their argument. The resource works well with middle school speaking and listening units, as well as speech therapy groups and debate club settings.
‘This or That’ Debate Topics for Middle School
Some debate topics are as easy as “this” or “that”! Use these straightforward debate topics as ready-made debates in class, or as quick SEL activities for middle school.
- Superman or Spiderman?
- Bike or scooter?
- Pop music or hip hop music?
- Job as a firefighter, or job as a police officer?
- Baseball or basketball?
- Winter or summer weather?
- Be a kid in the 90s, or be a kid now?
- Backyard swimming pool or backyard trampoline?
- Lots of friends or one best friend?
- Soda or juice?
- Eat dinner at 4 pm or eat dinner at 8 pm?
- Birthday cake or birthday donuts?
- Travel or stay home?
- Two-story house or one-story house?
- Sleep during the day, or sleep during the night?
Take out task cards for students to choose their debates
Need more inspiration to get students talking? Have them choose their debate topics with resources that include an array of middle school debate options.
Debate Topics – Task Cards
By Musings from Middle School
Grades: 6th-8th
Subjects: Writing-Expository
Your middle schoolers have opinions, so give them an opportunity to express them! This well-organized debate resource includes 20 high-interest cards with a different debate topic on each one. Consider printing them up for small groups to practice debate skills, or post them around the room for students to rotate through debate stations.
Rules for Middle School Debates
Middle school debates don’t need to be as structured as high school Socratic seminars, but they should be organized to ensure everyone’s voice is heard. Follow these common rules in middle school classrooms to keep your debate moving and to prevent hurt feelings or unplanned arguments.
- Come to a debate prepared with strong research.
- If you’re working in a group, contribute your equal share to the preparation.
- Always speak respectfully to each other.
- Don’t interrupt when another person is speaking.
- No devices (phones, laptops, etc.) while the debate is going on.
- Don’t make new arguments in your rebuttal arguments.
- Make eye contact with your opponents on the other side.
- Respect the time limit and don’t go over your allotted time.
Speak up for strong debate skills
The ability to debate isn’t just for future lawyers and politicians. All students benefit from knowing how to state their case, see an argument from another side, and support their stance with strong evidence. Best of all, debate resources for middle school belong in every subject — just think about all the science, social studies, and math debates you can have all year long!
Once your students master these debate ideas, consider extending their skills with debate topics for high school. They’ll be ready to face advanced arguments and complex conversations before they know it!