While sharing favourite picture books and readings to do with Elementary School Students, a Student Teacher in a workshop I did last week suggested this site for discussion topics with high school students:
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/features/magazine/columns/the_ethicist/
There are some topics, perhaps, you would not want to discuss with students, but some of the articles are very good and would be nice to read with highschoolers and discuss or have then write or debate after.
Here are a few examples:
By CHUCK KLOSTERMAN
The problem with treating others as you would like to be treated.
By CHUCK KLOSTERMAN
Is it wrong to donate a baby crib to charity that another country has outlawed
By CHUCK KLOSTERMAN
The ethics of fast-forwarding.
I haven't gone through many of them yet, but am always looking for articles and topics to discuss with older students that are thought provoking and lead to discussion, debate and for students to write specifics and think deeper about topics.
**Please note some topics from the NY Times webpage are NOT suitable for the classroom, but there are many that are. As always, preview carefully.