Three sophomore English classes. Fifty-nine potential debate topics. Bold items were listed by all three classes. We whittle the list on Friday.
1. Drug legalization
2. Gay marriage
3. Polygamy
4. Domestic violence
5. Gas prices
6. Prison overcrowding
7. Hurricanes
8. Iraq
9. Pollution
10. Gender roles in the home
11. The WASL / new state graduation requirements
12. Celebrities and the justice system
13. School parking permits
14. Airline safety
15. Immigration
16. Taxes
17. Government spending
18. The Pledge of Allegiance
19. Steroids
20. Stem cells / cloning
21. The school's dress code
22. STDs
23. Premarital sex
24. Teen pregnancy
25. Human trafficking / international slave trade
26. The drinking age
27. Music
28. Longer school lunches
29. Homelessness
30. Abortion
31. The school's new soda policy
32. Obesity
33. Sports
34. Religion
35. Evolution
36. G. W. Bush
37. Driver's license requirements
38. Teachers who preach in class
39. Why school is mandatory
40. Marriage / Divorce
41. Area 51
42. Bible codes
43. Biological / Chemical weapons
44. Are we alone in the universe?
45. Guns
46. Fireworks
47. Natural disasters
48. Rebuilding New Orleans
49. The draft
50. Class in America
51. Cliques in school
52. The voting age
53. Cultural relativism
54. Fast food industry
55. Poverty
56. Droughts and disease in Africa
57. Racism in Olympia
58. The annoying morning announcements
59. Aging and rights
3 comments:
Is mandatory attendance the greatest barrier to an education?
I struggle with that every day. When I was in high school, I graduated in three years because I wanted to move on to the rigor of a college education. I sympathize with all those who are bored, and misbehave as an "out." Authenticity is the greatest challenge in what is fundamentally a coercive environment.
The beauty of the American (as opposed to European--and, from what little I understand, Asian) education is in its much-more-frequent reclamation of the late bloomer. If school were not mandatory, we'd lose a hell of a lot of kids that we now hang onto.
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