Topic of the Week

I was wondering whether we could, perhaps, get a weekly topic debate going. Limit the discussion to a week (at most unless it still has considerable strength) but tackle some of the more controversial issues out there - the traditional haunts of Speaker's Corner perhaps?

There have been some great debates of late on other fora on some pretty heated topics?

Anyone up for it?

Any suggestions for topics?

Yeah I could be up for that. All sorts of topics out there.

Bluebloodedscouser wrote:

Yeah I could be up for that. All sorts of topics out there.

Name one then.

Cat19 wrote:

Bluebloodedscouser wrote:

Yeah I could be up for that. All sorts of topics out there.

Name one then.

Abortion, religion, parental responsibility, the nhs

This sounds great to me!

We could perhaps relate it to something that's in the news that week. Or we could do some of the usual contraversial ones...abortion, euthanasia etc.
I sometimes attend a moot where we discuss different topics and there have been some interesting conversations around fanaticism (sp?), life after death and religious tolerance but I'm not sure if those are of more interest to people with faith. I think it's probably better to keep to topics that a lot of people will have an interest in.

Sounds good. I wouldn't be a regular participant, but if there was a topic I felt strongly about, then I'd jump in.

OK - why not post suggestions and then on Friday I'll pick one out of the proverbial hat!

NOt sure how topical it is... it is a few weeks old, but what about the 13-year old girl wanting to sail solo around the world?

I also posted something on Sunday about Internet Privacy in Soapbox that I think has legs.

The 13 year sailor was only last week. Here are a few more options;

Do we need to rethink our healthcare system (and funding) in UK.
Should we have released the Lockerbie bomber.
Are GCSE / A level exams getting too easy.
Are "green" initiatives going too far / not far enough.
Do we pay too much / not enough tax.
Will the 2012 olympics be good for the UK.
Should we raise the driving age for youngsters and / or make older people take regular re-tests.

Should the drinking age be raised to 25?

Should child benefit be means tested?

Should parents read their children's personal emails or IMs, and under what circumstances?

I have thought up a few suggestions but I'm not sure how much they would interest most people:
Should the age of criminal responsibility be raised from 10.
Should religion be taken out of schools.
Should we abolish the monarchy.
Should educatoin be inclusive of disabled people.

Some excellent ideas!

The proverbial hat has room for a few more!

Is positive discrimination fair?
Should we withdraw troops from Afghanistan?

always up for debate..

would prefer topical myself i.e. recent debate as opposed to wider issues like abortion, but thats just me

Yeah, I think like Helen I'd prefer something current. I do enjoy getting angry during the Jeremy Vine show every day, but that's partly because I can't stand the man....

OK - how about two debates - one current, one general. Might help with the flow?!

marymoose99 wrote:

Yeah, I think like Helen I'd prefer something current. I do enjoy getting angry during the Jeremy Vine show every day, but that's partly because I can't stand the man....

Errrr....just don't watch it then....

(Sorry just noticed that you said you ENJOY getting angry.....)

Would it be possible to have it so that only members can view it?

Sonia wrote:

Would it be possible to have it so that only members can view it?

I am sure it would be possible to do this, but I am just wondering why? And would other members prefer this too?

I have just found that in debates on other forums people tend to use personal experience and I wouldn't be as comfortable doing this if the debate was viewable by everyone. If it's not possible, or people don't want it I coudl just change my user name.

I have no qualms about small sections being "members only", but as a board where I hope we're about sharing information and advice as much as have a bit of a chat/debate, I'd like the review site forums to remain viewable to the public. From my experience with phpBB3, it should be possible to make any combination of forums/sections private. In fact, thinking about it while I type, I'd only really want perhaps Soapbox to be private, if any area of the site has to be. Personally, I've no qualms about people seeing what I type.

Mod team... perhaps this is a discussion for the site HQ?

Jeremy Vine's on the radio, and it seems to go without saying that we listen to radio 2, whether I like it or not. Actually since I'm the only full-time person it should be up to me!

I'd be happy for the "chat" section to be members only. It's not particularly helpful to op site members who are not party to the discussions and do take Sonia's point of not wanting some personal info to be all out there for general debate.

Sonia wrote:

I have just found that in debates on other forums people tend to use personal experience and I wouldn't be as comfortable doing this if the debate was viewable by everyone. If it's not possible, or people don't want it I coudl just change my user name.

OK, that is a good point. Will see what we can do.

OK - just about to post this week's topics on the SOAPBOX.

I've got loads of general topics but just a few current debate topics. These will obviously change over time too so, if you've got an idea for a current debate topic then please add it here and it'll go into the hat!

The random number generator found here will be used to pick topics from my list! http://www.violetcottage.com/random/