Any ideas for teen DD's speech?

[pizzagal]

On this board for traffic

DD has to participate in a speech competition annually at school. Their speech can be on anything, and is due in tomorrow. DD (15yo) wants todo it on something that will make people think but is at a loss for what to do and must write it today.

Any ideas for topics? TIA.

She is considering rape but not sure.

Well, my best idea would be not leaving to the last minute
Though: pot kettle black.

My second best idea is that at 15 years old she's never going to speak passionately about something that a total stranger online told Mummy to tell her.

She needs to choose what makes her think if she wants to inspire others to think.

If she really has no idea - then she should talk on the lack of engagement by teens on important issues?

environment
fracking
climate change agreement
school uniform
school dinners
trans issues
bone marrow donation
buying clothes for taller girls
buying shoes for larger footed children
choice in schools v impact on environment
grammar schools
pressure of exams
for or against internet or social media
why teens shouldn't have mobile phones

why voting age should be raised not lowered

Get her to read a broadsheet paper this morning.
Then look at the last 100 posts on her insta or fb or whatever she uses.
Two levels of what is concerning the world and her peer group right now.

Everyday sexism in the media
Drug issues
Mental health
The election & whether young people connect with today's politicians
The effects on young people of unattainable/airbrushed images in the media

Voting age to be lowered to 16, pros and cons.
Consent.
Why young voters don't bother.
Peer pressure, media pressure, eating disorders
Rise in teenage mental health problems
Why boys play more sport than girls
Should the school curriculum contain more life skills?
Is the National Curriculum preparing children for the modern work place?

Sharpie marker eyebrows: good or bad

Some fab ideas, thank you everyone for your time. I'll let you know what she decides.

Whether it's OK to ask for money as a wedding gift

Whether you should have first dibs on a parking space outside your house.

Get her to look at a newspaper, then compare the top features: London attacks, General Election, Manchester BEnefit concert, BGT

THen compare that to her social media.

On that basis consider the level of engagement people a year away from age of consent, two years from voting age are engaged in the world around them.

I don't think rape is a good choice. What about something to do with equality between male and females? Could she start with a what if? For eg, what if I were male for a day?

Classics like what if we had no monarchy.

Funny like argue that short people make better basket ball players!

My daughter just got a distinction for a talk about dementia, what it is, how it affects individuals and families and the VERA framework to help people manage difficult situations. Her grandad and uncle have dementia so it was particularly personal for her though.

OwlinaTree why is rape not a good choice?

LilaTheLion many congratulations to your daughter :) my DD has no experience of dementia so not too good for her.

Well she's 15. I hope it's not something she knows too much about.

'my dd has no experience of dementia so not too good for her' , does she have personal experience about rape ? If the answer is no then you answered your own question as to why not rape as a topic.

What would her angle on rape be ?

I think the voting , election ideas would be good as it's topical

Your daughter also doesn't have experience of, or presumably an interest in, many of the suggestions here.
She has one day to do this - she needs to pick something she cares about.

As for rape: well, she thinks rape is a bad thing, right? So what's her take? What does she actually want to say about rape?

She is best picking something simple and a single issue, or pick out a single issue of a big issue. Partly because she'll get her message across better if it's simple, and partly because she's left it to the last minute.

It seems like a cheap option to point score at school unless it's something she's knowledgeable and passionate about. Obviously you know your daughter better than we do.

There are lots of other good options on here too

She's only got one day to research it and write it actually, so it does need to be on something she knows a bit about.

I only think that the election topic is a good one if she's remotely interested in it. Which presumably she isn't or she wouldn't need you to ask on here.

I would stop looking for a topic.

Instead, start from having a conversation about what has annoyed you this week, what makes you mad? Don't invent a big issue - find out what naturally has impacted her. Maybe flick through social media to see if she has ranted about anything recently.

Yeah, lowering the voting age is a fab subject. But if the last thing to piss her off was being made to scrub her make up off before French class, she'll speak more passionately about how necessary that is to her education and her school's success for all children.

What would her message be on "rape"? And she would need to take into account the fact it could be a triggering subject for some students at the school.

She needs to pick something she is passionate about. Not something she thinks she should be passionate about. There are so many fascinating things to talk about, but what brings a speech to life is a real passion/knowledge about a topic. Especially something that maybe isn't in the headlines all the time.

I think she should choose a topic she can relate to if she has any chance of speaking passionately about it. What issues concern her? When I was a teen I would have picked something like testing on animals or battery farming. How about cyber bullying? Gay/ trans rights? Paying for University fees?

Consent would be an excellent one for her to do at he moment, Hollyoaks have just done a big storyline about consent and it was handled very well.
A lot of teenagers watch hollyoaks so the consent storyline will still be very fresh in their minds.