WSDC 2025 motions

Every motion we have from the 2025 World Schools Debating Championship, round by round, with a short prep note under each one.

  • Panama City, Panama
  • 2025
  • World Schools
  • High school
  • 14 motions
WSDC by year
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Preliminary rounds

Round 1Prepared motionEconomy and Work

THBT Panama should replace the US dollar with its own independent currency.

Panama, the host country, has used the US dollar as legal tender since 1904; its own balboa exists only as coins. Without its own currency, Panama cannot set its own interest rates or print money in a crisis.

Proposition could argue

A national currency would let Panama respond to its own recessions instead of following decisions made in Washington for the US economy.

Opposition could argue

The dollar gives Panama low inflation, cheap borrowing and the trust that built its banking hub. A new currency would invite politicians to print money.

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Round 2Prepared motionPolitics and Government

THBT courts should not defer to administrative agencies in statutory interpretation.

In 2024 the US Supreme Court ended the 40-year-old Chevron rule, under which judges accepted an agency's reasonable reading of an unclear law. The debate is over who should decide what vague laws mean: judges or expert agencies.

Proposition could argue

Saying what the law means is the courts' job. Agencies are unelected, tend to read laws in ways that expand their own power, and change their minds with each new administration.

Opposition could argue

Agencies have scientists and specialists that judges lack. Lawmakers cannot spell out every detail, and judges deciding technical questions leads to worse and less consistent rules.

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Round 3Society and Culture

This House Opposes the prominence of celebrity conflict* in pop culture *examples include beef on X (formerly Twitter), rap battles, roasts, etc.

Public feuds, such as the 2024 rap battle between Kendrick Lamar and Drake, can dominate charts and news for weeks. The motion asks whether that attention is healthy for fans and for culture.

Proposition could argue

Feuds reward cruelty, teach fans that piling on is entertainment, and push attention away from the art itself.

Opposition could argue

Rivalry is an old artistic tradition, from battle rap to comedy roasts. It pushes artists to sharpen their work, and fans know it is a performance.

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Round 4International Relations

THS European countries gradually withdrawing from NATO and establishing an independent military presence

Doubts about how firmly the United States will defend Europe have pushed European leaders to talk about "strategic autonomy" and to raise defense spending since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Proposition could argue

Europe cannot keep its security hostage to the politics of one ally. Its own force would let it act on its own interests and finally carry its own weight.

Opposition could argue

Europe cannot quickly replace US nuclear protection, satellites and logistics. A gap during the transition could invite Russian aggression and split the alliance.

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Round 5Prepared motionInternational Relations

THS the Holy See recognizing the underground Catholic church in China, rather than the government-sanctioned church.

China has a state-approved Catholic church and an "underground" church loyal only to Rome. Since 2018 the Vatican has had a deal with Beijing on naming bishops, which it has renewed several times.

Proposition could argue

The Church should stand with believers who kept their faith at great cost, and the deal hands control of the Church to the Communist Party.

Opposition could argue

Dialogue protects far more Catholics than defiance. Open support for the underground church could bring a crackdown and split the Church in China.

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Round 6Sports

This House believes that sports leagues should fund 'loyalty bonuses' for accomplished professional athletes who remain with their team for more than 5 years.

Star players often leave for richer teams when their contracts end, and fans lose the players they grew up cheering for. A league-funded bonus would reward stars for staying.

Proposition could argue

Loyalty bonuses keep stars in their communities, help smaller teams hold on to talent, and give fans lasting heroes.

Opposition could argue

Players should be free to move, and leagues would be paying people to make choices they might make anyway. Mostly successful teams would benefit.

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Round 7Prepared motionEnvironment and Animals

THBT the International Seabed Authority should immediately legalize deep sea mining for rare earth minerals.

The International Seabed Authority, set up under the UN Law of the Sea, controls the ocean floor beyond any country's waters. It is still writing its mining rules, while companies want to collect metal-rich nodules for batteries.

Proposition could argue

The clean energy shift needs these metals, and seabed mining avoids some of the damage land mines do. Legal, regulated mining beats countries going ahead on their own.

Opposition could argue

Scientists know little about deep sea life, and the damage could be permanent. Recycling and better batteries could reduce the need before anything is destroyed.

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Round 8Politics and Government

In countries experiencing democratic backsliding, THBT civil society groups should shift their advocacy from substantive policy goals (e.g. legalizing abortion or gay marriage) to critiquing violations of democratic norms (e.g. infringing on the independence of courts, removing constitutional safeguards) *civil society groups are non-state based organizations and movements that advocate for social and political issues.

When governments weaken courts and change constitutions to stay in power, activist groups must decide whether to keep fighting for their own causes or join a broader defense of democracy itself.

Proposition could argue

Without free courts and fair elections, no policy win will last. Defending democratic rules can also unite people who disagree on social issues.

Opposition could argue

Dropping their causes abandons the groups who need help most. Abstract talk about norms rarely moves voters, and governments often target activists whatever they campaign for.

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Break rounds

Double-octofinalsEconomy and Work

This House Would allow employees to contractually agree with their employer to delay or forgo having children during their employment

Some large companies already pay for employees to freeze their eggs, which critics say nudges workers to put careers before families. The motion goes further and lets people sign contracts promising to delay having children.

Proposition could argue

Adults should be free to make trade-offs about their own lives, and some would gain higher pay or top jobs they could not otherwise get.

Opposition could argue

The power gap between employer and worker makes this consent hollow. It would fall hardest on women and turn a basic life choice into something that can be bought.

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OctofinalsEducation

This House prefers public interest models to venture-backed models in the development of educational technology for primary and secondary education

Info slide

In public interest models of Educational Technology development, non-profit foundations, universities, multilateral organizations, or governments develop educational technology (e.g., DIKSHA in India, Indonesia's Teacher Independence Platform, UNICEF's Learning Passport, etc.). In venture-backed models, educational technology is developed by EdTech start-ups who raise money from private investors in exchange for equity (i.e. shares) with the goal of ensuring rapid growth and financial return.

Learning apps for schools are built either by public bodies and nonprofits, such as India's DIKSHA, or by startups funded by investors who expect fast growth and returns.

Proposition could argue

Public tools are built around learning rather than profit, protect children's data, and reach poor schools that startups ignore.

Opposition could argue

Investor money pays for fast, ambitious products, and competition between startups drives quality up. Public projects are often slow and underfunded.

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QuarterfinalsInternational Relations

This House opposes the creation of nation-states founded on the basis of a shared ethnic or religious identity as a response to group-based persecution or conflict

Many states were created as homelands for groups facing persecution, such as Pakistan (1947) and Israel (1948), and similar claims are made today, for example by Kurdish groups.

Proposition could argue

Building a state for one group creates new minorities and new displacement, as the partition of India showed, and locks identity into politics for generations.

Opposition could argue

When other countries fail to protect a persecuted group, a homeland may be the only lasting guarantee of its safety.

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SemifinalsInternational Relations

This House supports the Second Wave of the Pink Tide

Info slide

The Second Wave of the Pink Tide refers to the ongoing resurgence of support for left-wing populist leaders and political parties in Latin America. It began in 2018 with the election of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) in Mexico and has continued with the rise of leaders such as Luis Arce in Bolivia, Pedro Castillo in Peru, Alberto Fernandez in Argentina, Gustavo Petro in Colombia, and Gabriel Boric in Chile.

The "Pink Tide" is the wave of left-wing leaders elected across Latin America. The second wave began with Andrés Manuel López Obrador in Mexico in 2018 and includes leaders in Bolivia, Colombia, Chile and elsewhere.

Proposition could argue

These governments have focused on poverty and inequality in the world's most unequal region, and on more independence from US influence.

Opposition could argue

Populist leaders have weakened courts and institutions, and several have struggled with the economy. Peru's Pedro Castillo was removed after trying to dissolve Congress in 2022.

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Grand FinalEthics and Philosophy

TH prefers a world with a strong belief in seriti

Info slide

Seriti is communitarian philosophy found in the Setswana, Sesotho, and Sepedi cultures. According to this philosophy, a person's moral, spiritual and social standing - their seriti - is bestowed upon them by their ancestors, living and dead. Individuals who abide by this philosophy prioritize living in line with the values and desires articulated by their ancestors, and maintain a relationship with them by not ignoring, disrespecting, or dishonoring them.

Seriti is a philosophy from Setswana, Sesotho and Sepedi cultures in southern Africa. A person's moral and social standing comes from their ancestors, living and dead, and people try to live by the values those ancestors held.

Proposition could argue

Seriti gives people belonging, a shared moral compass and respect for elders, which can protect against loneliness and selfishness.

Opposition could argue

Strong ancestral expectations can limit people who want to live differently, put pressure on the young and keep old hierarchies in place.

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Other motions

The archive doesn't say which round these were used in.

Round not listedCrime and Justice

This House would allow ex-convicts to join the police force

Most police forces turn away anyone with a criminal record. Reformers argue that people who have served their sentences, and know the justice system from the inside, could make policing fairer.

Proposition could argue

People who have paid for their crimes deserve a second chance, and officers with lived experience can earn trust in neighborhoods that fear the police.

Opposition could argue

Police hold great power over the public, so the bar to join must be the highest there is. Victims and juries may not trust an officer with a record.

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About WSDC

The World Schools Debating Championship is the biggest international high school debate tournament, with national teams from more than 60 countries. Each team has up to five members, three of whom speak in each debate, in the World Schools format, with some motions released in advance and others with one hour of prep.

Motions from the tournament's tab site. Prep notes are written by the Debatery Editing Team to help you start thinking; they are not the only way to run either side.

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