Social Challenges for Debate: There are always plenty of headlines from the newspaper that can be used for debate ideas, but here are a few statements for debate that you may wish to try:

• The World Soccer Federation does not allow hijabs (head scarves) to be worn by female soccer players. For safety reasons, they do not allow anything to be worn on the heads or around the necks of any player regardless of gender. This rule should be changed to allow the wearing of head scarves in all sports.
• Dental care should be covered under provincial health insurance plans.
• The legal drinking age should be changed to 25 years of age.
• The legal driving age should be changed to 21 years of age.
• The legal voting age should be lowered to 16 years of age.
• Single parents should have free daycare (government sponsored) for their children if they wish to upgrade their employment skills and/or attend school. This means the people of Canada will have to pay 1% more in federal tax.
• The amount for minimum wage should be increased to become more in line with the average costs of living. As the minimum wage stands now in every province, people earning income at this wage will live below the poverty line.
• All couples who have been living together as husband and wife or life-long partners (including same-sex couples) for more than one year are considered to be legally married. If one person dies, the surviving partner should receive Canada Pension Plan benefits as other married couples do.
• Marijuana should be a legal drug similar to alcohol and cigarettes.

An alternative method: This method will work well for small groups and you should not have more than four participants per group.

• Another way to do this activity is to ask participants to first choose whether they are “for” something or “against” it before they hear the social challenge that is up for debate. This will help participants to find value in an alternative viewpoint and/or be forced to look at something in a different way, which could assist them in expanding their perceptions.
• Place all the “for” participants in one line (or you can arrange desks or chairs to have two rows of teams facing each other). Line up the “against” participants to face the opposing team.
• Pose the social challenge. Choose the first person from the “for” group to begin, and give one reason why he/she agrees with the situation. The next person in line must give a different reason. Continue down the line until everyone has had a chance to give a reason.
• The “against” group will now have a turn to voice their opinion. Again, choose the first person in the line and then follow through to the end. Remind participants that they cannot give the same reason as someone else in their group.