Debating Matters

DM Berlin: Smartphones should be banned in the classroom

Updated April 2025

INTRODUCTION

According to some studies, 98 per cent of the UK population now own a smartphone [Ref: Uswitch]. Recent research by the UK’s communications regulator Ofcom, further found that smartphone ownership among 12- to 15-year-olds is above 95 per cent, with nearly a quarter of three- and four-year-olds owning a device. In addition, their research also showed that half of children aged three to 12 use at least one social-media app, despite the minimum age requirement being 13 [Ref: Guardian]. In Germany, these number are similar, with 90 per cent of 13- to 15-year-olds possessing a smartphone [Ref: bitcom].

Smartphone use has been linked to a wide range of poor educational and mental-health problems, particularly in relation to social-media use [Ref: TES]. Several studies carried out amongst school children in Germany seem to confirm that smartphones are a major source of distraction [Ref: Deutsches Schulportal].

Populism is a threat to democracy

updated 2025

Please note, this Topic Guide should be the starting point of your research. You are encouraged to conduct your own independent research to supplement your argument.

INTRODUCTION

Populism is the political buzzword of the day – with commentators, political theorists and politicians all debating its meaning and the merits of its apparent rise in recent years. Examples of populism abound: it dominated discussion in 2016 with the vote for Brexit and the election of Donald Trump to the White House. The return of Trump in 2025 is just the latest example after the 2023 election of Javier Milei in Argentina [Ref: Populism Studies], the Europe-wide farmers’ protests [Ref: Financial Times], the rise of the Reform Party in the UK [Ref: The Week] and the overwhelming rejection by referendum in Ireland of a proposed constitutional change [Ref: The Guardian]. Whilst many discuss populism as a right-wing phenomenon, it has a long history on the left as well, with electoral success for Syriza in Greece [Ref: New Statesman] and Podemos in Spain [Ref: BBC News].

But particular alarm is caused today by its right-wing variety. Some insist it is dangerous for democracy and liberal values, going so far as to suggest that it has echoes of the emergence of fascism in the 1930s and 1940s [Ref: Guardian]. Such fears seemed to be confirmed when news broke in Germany of an alleged meeting between members of far-right populist party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) and neo-Nazi groups. This led to widespread public protests and even calls to ban the AfD [Ref: The Guardian], but the party went on to win 83 seats (out of 630) in the 2025 federal elections. The call to ban a political party, supported by a large number of Germans, gets to the heart of the debate about populism: is populism a reflection of widespread anger and disillusionment with the mainstream, or is it a dangerous force which justifies suspending the democratic process in order to contain it?

Unhealthy lifestyles are not the business of government

updated 2025

Please note, this Topic Guide should be the starting point of your research. You are encouraged to conduct your own independent research to supplement your argument.

INTRODUCTION

Since the Covid pandemic, the battle against obesity and unhealthy lifestyles has been more ferocious than ever. Lifestyle factors were found to have a huge influence over how vulnerable people are to hospitalisation and death if infected with Covid-19 [Ref: Office for National Statistics], and after his own brush with death, Boris Johnson announced new plans for rules and regulations to encourage a healthier way of living [Ref: Guardian]. These included widening the existing sugary drinks tax, toughening up packaging rules, introducing a pre-9pm ban on adverts for food high in fat, sugar and salt (HFSS) and a ban on special offer promotions of HFSS food in supermarkets [Ref: UK Government].

However, during her short reign as prime minister, Liz Truss threatened to reverse the sugar tax and get rid of plans to further regulate the public’s eating habits, despite calls from healthcare professionals to continue with Johnson’s programme [Ref: Sustain]. Then, intermittent-fasting, ‘slimline’ [Ref: Evening Standard] Rishi Sunak took the reins as prime minister, and there was a shift back to more government intervention – something continued under Labour. This flip-flopping between stances by successive leaders shows a clear divide between those who think the state ought to intervene to combat obesity and unhealthy lifestyles and critics who argue such policies are unnecessary, illiberal and doomed to fail.

Before the General Election in 2024, Sunak announced a flagship health policy to introduce a ‘generational’ tobacco ban. Anyone born after 1 January 2009 would never be allowed to buy tobacco products. [Ref: Guardian] While Sunak’s plan had to be scrapped due to the election, the incoming Labour government adopted and expanded the proposal. [Ref: ConservativeHome]

Attempts to regulate the public’s bad habits are nothing new, such as the medieval banning of football [Ref: Bleacher Report] or the American prohibition of alcohol in the early twentieth century [Ref: Thought]. The more recent trend in regulation however, started with tobacco. Since the discovery of the health risks associated with smoking became apparent in the 1950s, legislation has been put in place to reduce it. This process has accelerated in the past 20 years so, with higher taxes, public smoking bans and rules for advertising and packaging [Ref: UK Government]. Should the way that governments have tackled smoking be a template for wider issues of health?

We should accept the risk inherent in contact sports

Updated 2025

This Topic Guide should be the starting point of your research. You are encouraged to conduct your own independent research to supplement your argument.

INTRODUCTION

In April 2023, former Wales and British & Lions rugby wing, Dafydd James, revealed he had been diagnosed with onset dementia at the age of 47, with the possibility he also has a degenerative brain disease, chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which can only be discovered posthumously [Ref: The Times]. The former rugby player is the latest high-profile sports star to join the growing class-action lawsuit against rugby’s governing bodies, World Rugby, the Rugby Football Union (RFU) and Welsh Rugby Union (WRU). He joins some 200 professional and amateur sportsmen and sportswomen who are suing the professional bodies for failing to take protective action against the risks caused by concussion [Ref: BBC Sport].

This was the first legal move of its kind in world rugby, with some comparing it to the class action against the NFL in the US, which began in 2011. The NFL Concussion case now has over 20,000 retired players accusing the league of not warning about, and hiding, brain injuries associated with the sport [Ref: NFL Concussion Settlement]. Moreover, in 2024, the Washington Post revealed that many more cases have been hidden from sight, arguing, ‘the settlement routinely fails to deliver money and medical care to former players suffering from dementia and CTE… saving the NFL hundreds of millions of dollars, if not more’ [Ref: The Washington Post / Forbes].

Britain should pay reparations for its colonial past

updated 2025

This topic guide is a companion to ‘Germany should pay reparations for its colonial past’

Please note, this Topic Guide should be the starting point of your research. You are encouraged to conduct your own independent research to supplement your argument.

INTRODUCTION

Although the issue of slave trade reparations has long been contentious, a new wave of the debate began in 2022, after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, as scrutiny of her reign and the legacy of the British Empire came under the spotlight. Again, more recently, the debate was reignited following the statement from Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, in 2024 that Britain would not take part in any slavery reparations [Ref: Guardian]. However, several former colonies have been progressing plans to remove the British monarch as their head of state and calling for reparations [Ref: The Atlantic]. A move endorsed by Commonwealth leaders at the CHOGMA summit in Samoa in October 2024 who reiterated the view that Britain should commit to reparations for its role in the transatlantic slave trade [Ref: BBC].

This follows a trend across the West of increasing demand for compensation from Western nations to individuals and countries who were affected by the slave trade. According to some calculations, reparations for the transatlantic slave trade could exceed $18 trillion [Ref: BBC] with those calling for reparations arguing that slavery facilitated the rise of Britain as a global player at the detriment to those whose heritage is rooted in slavery. The implication of this is that these negative affects have filtered down through generations and had a discernible material impact on the present. In summary, it has benefitted the descendants of those who owned and traded slaves, and held back the descendants of slaves [Ref: Guardian].

Tourism benefits the world

updated 2025

Please note, this Topic Guide should be the starting point of your research. You are encouraged to conduct your own independent research to supplement your argument.

INTRODUCTION

On 25 April 2024, the city of Venice implemented an entry fee scheme for day-trip tourists [Ref: Independent]. According to city officials, the scheme is aiming to ‘safeguard the city from “overtourism”’. The initiative, run as a pilot scheme in 2024, proved successful according to the city and has been reinstated for 2025. This time the city has imposed the entry fee on almost twice as many days as last year, as well as doubling the cost for late bookers. [Ref: Telegraph] Other European cities, have followed suit with a ‘tourist tax’ including Paris, Amsterdam and Barcelona, with a countrywide tax on tourists to Portugal and Greece [Ref: Which]. Closer to home, City of Edinburgh Council has announced that a levy of 5% will take effect from 24 July 2026 [Ref: BBC].

Tourism has traditionally been seen as a way of showing appreciation for different places, peoples and cultures, and many cities around the world have a thriving tourist industry that benefits inhabitants. However, mounting fears about the impact of mass tourism have led many to question whether tourists are actually ruining the places they love. A debate about the effects of tourism on tourist destinations has been going on for some time [Ref: Telegraph], leading to the rise of related ideas like eco-tourism [Ref: International Ecotourism Society] or sustainable tourism [Ref: Wikipedia].

Assisted dying should be legalised

Updated 2025

Please note, this Topic Guide should be the starting point of your research. You are encouraged to conduct your own independent research to supplement your argument.

INTRODUCTION

Physician-assisted dying is a term encompassing both assisted suicide and euthanasia. Assisted suicide is the practice of allowing doctors to prescribe life-ending drugs to be administered by individuals who want to die to avoid further suffering. Euthanasia is where someone else – usually a doctor – administers the lethal drug.

The past few decades have seen an international trend of legalising this practice, sometimes for just the terminally ill, sometimes the chronically ill, and sometimes even people whose body is healthy but whose mental illness is so extreme that their suffering is thought to justify the procedure. As this has happened in several liberal societies, many questions have been raised. Can someone ever rationally justify taking their own life, or is it a simple, reasonable choice to make for those who are suffering? What are the wider implications for a society that accepts that sometimes life isn’t worth living? Does the medical profession suffer when the role of the doctor is extended from life-preserver to include life-taker, or is it better that the option to die is put into the hands of professionals?

Technological progress will not solve society’s environmental issues

updated 2025

INTRODUCTION

Arguably, climate change, and the environmental problems that will occur as a result, are the most pressing issues that humankind faces. The outcome of the COP21 climate talks in Paris in 2015 was hailed as a momentous deal, in which countries pledged, among other things, to cap emissions, and seek to limit temperature rises to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and below the two degrees which many scientists believe would be disastrous for the planet [Ref: Guardian].

Yet a decade later, progress has been slow. Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has risen from 400 parts per million (ppm) at the time of the Paris talks to 425 ppm at the end of 2024 [ref: Climate.gov]. Global CO₂emissions from fossil fuels and industry rose from 35.4 billion tonnes in 2015 to 37.8 billion tonnes in 2023 [ref: Our World in Data]. In February 2025, it was revealed that just 13 of the 195 parties to the Paris agreement had submitted ‘nationally determined contributions’ – five-yearly plans setting out what countries will do to cut emissions – by the latest deadline [ref: Carbon Brief]. One of the first acts of Donald Trump’s second term as US president was to pull out of the Paris agreement – again [ref: Guardian].

Tech companies should act to stop online misinformation and hate speech

Updated: February 2025

Please note, this Topic Guide should be the starting point of your research. You are encouraged to conduct your own independent research to supplement your argument.

INTRODUCTION

There has long been concern that social-media giants have allowed the spread of ‘misinformation’ and ‘hate speech’ online and that they should do more to combat it. This has led to the big tech companies like Meta (which owns Facebook and Instagram), X and Alphabet (Google’s parent company) employing armies of fact-checkers and deploying algorithms to remove misleading or offensive posts. But as a result, many worry about the power this gives them, arguing that these companies have become a near-oligopoly on what can be seen and shared online and have the potential to shape the narrative and how we see the world.

However, in a twist to the trend in recent years, it seems that Meta has accepted some of these concerns. In January 2025, Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s CEO, announced that the company would reduce the use of fact-checkers, who he said were ‘too politically biased’ and would ‘get rid of a bunch of restrictions on topics like immigration and gender that are just out of touch with mainstream discourse’. [Ref: Guardian] In place of fact-checkers, Meta will be introducing a system similar to X’s Community Notes, where users can append clarifying or corrective information to a post. This has proven to be both trusted across the political spectrum and to have had a dampening effect on the spread of misinformation [Ref: BBC].

The capacity of social media to affect events seemed to be illustrated by the public disorder in the UK in the summer of 2024. In July, a lone attacker walked into a children’s dance class in Southport, killing three young girls and injuring another 10. Directly following the attack, rumours circulated online about the killer’s identity and motivation, which then incited protests and riots across the UK. Many of the attacks violently targeted Muslims, mosques, refugee and asylum seekers.

We should build on the green belt

Updated 2025

Please note, this Topic Guide should be the starting point of your research. You are encouraged to conduct your own independent research to supplement your argument.

INTRODUCTION

The Royal Town Planning Institute describes green belts as ‘areas around certain towns, cities and large built-up areas where the aim is to prevent urban sprawl by keeping the land permanently undeveloped. ‘ [ref: RTPI] But in recent years, there has been an ongoing debate about the merits of the green belt in the UK, with supporters and critics clashing over its relevance and necessity in the twenty-first century.

For years, housebuilding has run well below targets and demand has increased. One think tank suggests that the UK has now got a shortfall of over four million homes. [Ref: Centre for Cities] As a result, house prices are now so high that it is almost impossible for most first-time buyers to get on the ‘housing ladder’ in many parts of the country. According to official figures, in England in 2023, the average house price was £298,000, while average annual disposable household income was £35,000. In other words, average prices were equivalent to 8.6 times average income. (The disposable household income ratios were 5.8 in Wales, 5.6 in Scotland and 5.0 in Northern Ireland.) In the most in-demand areas, in London and south-east England, the price-to-income ratio is even higher – perhaps 12 to 15. [Ref: ONS]

Responding to this housing crisis, the Labour government elected in July 2024 has announced ambitious plans to increase supply by cutting back on planning rules and forcing local authorities to accept housebuilding targets. One particular focus has been on plans to build on ‘grey belt’ land – land in the green belt that is of ‘poor quality’. [Ref: BBC News]