ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY TOPICS

• We should develop some sort [what sort?] of internet censorship. Not all free expression is protected by the First Amendment.

• The birth control pill is more dangerous than the medical community has led us to believe and should be removed [or restricted] from general consumption.

• We should initiate a single-payer health insurance program in the United States and model the program on successful ones used in Europe [or Canada]. Or we should implement a voucher-based system of health insurance nationwide.

• We should use death row inmates as subjects for medical testing rather than animals.
   
• Drivers in the state of Minnesota who are over 70 years old must pass an annual test for eyesight and physical ability before they can renew their driver's license.

• All Minnesota K - 12 public schools should adopt a school uniform policy.
   
• We should not allow novels that include explicit or mature content in high school libraries (examples include Lady Chatterley's Lover or Huck Finn).

• Physician-assisted suicide should be legal in cases where death is certain and consent is from the dying (in writing).

• All animal experimentation (including cancer research) should be outlawed as advances in technology have made animal testing unnecessary.

• Parents should consider plastic surgery to alter physical features of a child born with a handicap (such as Downs Syndrome or other birth defect), and insurance should pay for it.

• The classroom size of grades K through 5 statewide should be set at a maximum of 20 students.
• Drivers in MN [or nationwide] should not be permitted to use cell phones while driving (talking and/or texting).

• We should not lower any physical requirement guidelines so that women may be admitted in the military [or fire or police departments].

• Fathers should be allowed the same treatment as mothers in family court decisions. Too many times the mother is favored because of the "nurturing" stereotype.

• Children should not be exposed to computer technology until late in the education process [which year?] because computers often distract young learners from learning the basics, or have the basics done for them by computers.

• We should legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes.  Or we should legalize marijuana completely as a legal recreational and therapeutic drug. Or we should ban the use of marijuana for any purpose.

• We should encourage alternative medicinal solutions to diseases first [such as?] before attempting conventional treatments. Furthermore, alternative medicine should be covered by conventional health insurance policies.

• Every state should enact a divorce counseling law that requires married couples to go through counseling before being granted a divorce.
   
• We should outlaw genetically modified foods until further research [how much?] can be done to see if these foods affect the environment or us.

• Gay marriage should be legally recognized nationwide so that tax and insurance benefits apply equally among all states.

• Cloning should be banned until necessary safeguards and precautions can be established to allow the research to be conducted safely and prudently.
   
• Stem-cell research is medically sound but ethically questionable. We should continue research but prohibit the actual use of embryonic stem cells until a later [how much later?] period. Or: We should support the recent decision to allow embryonic stem-cell research and federally fund the work to use these stem cells to cure diseases.
   
• The misdiagnoses of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder have caused doctors to over-prescribe Ritalin.  We should develop new diagnostic procedures [which ones?] to curb this trend.

• Home schooling provides an exceptional education under controlled circumstances.  Nevertheless, I would advocate that every American child should receive at least two years of public schooling before graduating from high school.
   
• We should implement a public school voucher system in Minnesota, similar to the model now in use in the Milwaukee Public School system.

• There should be no drug testing in the workplace because this violates our privacy rights.
• We should implement immigration reform to provide those immigrants already here but not yet legal with a path to citizenship.

Avoid topics of taste, fashion, and recreation:

• Rap music is not real music
• Fad diets never work
• Professional sports' salaries are too high
• Baseball is harder to play than basketball
• The NFL should punish excessive endzone celebrations
• Professional wrestling is real wrestling
• Skateboarding is not a crime

Avoid topics that simply cannot work:

1. History of the Hungarian Uprising of 1956: a matter of historical facts.
2. Alternative versus rap:  a matter of personal music preference.
3. We should punish drunk drivers: no controversy.
4. Any religion-only topic, such as proving God exists or arguing for/against virtues of religion: matter of faith
5. Why I am a parent: a matter of personal preference.

Resist topics that are extremely volatile and perhaps have no neutral audience:

1. Making abortion illegal (or keeping abortion legal): argument has been overworked.
2. Policy regarding illegal immigration: lately, students have used rants instead of arguments. Be careful if you choose this one.
3. Gun control and capital punishment are two other issues that have been really worked over. Avoid if you cannot treat rationally.
4. Any issue about which you can only see one side. Check loaded language in thesis.

Topics that haven’t been tried that might work:

1. Drug testing should be required only for those in public transportation sector jobs.
    
2. Since minors can’t vote, marry, or drink, we should treat crimes committed by minors with more leniency than adults (right now, Supreme Court says minors can be tried as adults and receive the full penalty for crime).
3. Students should not graduate from college until they pass a comprehensive exam in their major.
4. Compulsory national service is needed. People ages 17 – 25 would serve country for two year stint. This includes military service or public service (6-week training course would count towards two-year time) such as forest ranger, park ranger, Outreach volunteer, Headstart volunteer, daycare worker, national guard, Red Cross, postal worker, food shelf and homeless shelter staffing, etc.
5. Voting apathy won’t change until we overhaul the entire system: abolish the winner-take-all system. Allow up to one dozen candidates and use "ranked choice voting." And make voting compulsory.

Source: http://www.ar.cc.mn.us/beste/english1121/research/topic_suggestions.htm