Choosing Great Persuasive Essay Topics For High School Students

Let’s face it, most high school students would much rather be writing short text messages and having fun than writing essays of any sort, so it’s often quite difficult to get them to engage with writing papers. Have a look at this handy advice about how to choose great persuasive essay topics for high school students.

Find topics that are meaningful to them

A good starting point is to choose issues that are actually meaningful to teenagers on some level. Many teenagers still have some residual egocentrism that’s so common in younger children, so try to work with that in some way. Issues that are topical and have personal meaning to their lives will hook them much more easily than issues that they struggle to relate to their own lives in any way. For example, they can probably relate to issues like mandatory school uniforms far better than they can relate to the issue of gun control.

Look for topics that can plug into their daily lives

As mentioned above, teenagers often have some residual egocentrism remaining from childhood. If you’d like to challenge that a little bit, try choosing persuasive essay topics that are not obviously related to their daily lives, but which can be linked to their daily lives in some way. You may need to help them build the connections to get them thinking about issues in a new way. For example, if they’re not particularly interested in climate change, try to link it to their lives by asking them what life would be like if climate change led to their not being able to drive or fly anywhere.

Consider choosing a few taboo topics

High school students are at an age where they enjoy pushing boundaries, so another way to pique their interest in a persuasive essay is to choose an issue that’s a little bit taboo. This will interest them much more than the so-called socially acceptable issues. A good example may be the legal drinking age.

Don’t be afraid to select challenging topics

Teenagers are beginning to find themselves and their place in the world, so a challenging persuasive essay topic may be exactly what get’s them all fired up and ready to engage with the work. One such issue is the death penalty. It may seem a bit tough for high school students, but it’s probably a great way to get them thinking.