1. THBT peer pressure is harmful to individuals
Proposition
Clarification:
- Define peer pressure as the influence that peers have on each other to do things they may not otherwise choose to do, i.e., peer pressure is by definition against one’s authentic self, otherwise it will not be considered as “pressure”.
Metrics:
- Authenticity → Diversity
- Self-esteem and identity
Substantives:
It undermines individual autonomy and authentic decision-making.
- Stakeholders are teens who are especially susceptible to other’s influences. It can result in conforming to group norms rather than independent thinking and making their own decisions. → diversity and independence is reduced.
- Psychological impacts:
- When an individual act against their values, guilt and shame can damage one’s mental health.
- Fear of exclusion can lead to anxiety and depression, even self-harm. ⇒ Either/or → go against or not → both are psychologically harmful.
It can promote harmful behaviours.
- Peer pressure is one of the main contributors to underage drinking and smoking.
- Unhealthy challenges on social media such as TikTok
It damages one’s self-esteem and blurs individual identity in the long term.
- Harms self-confidence: doubt their own judgements / constantly seeking external validation → difficulty in setting boundaries → creates opportunities for gaslighting?
- Suppress true desire & identity → unfulfilled life & failure in self-actualization
Opposition
Clarification:
- Mitigate the harmful aspects → a fundamental part of human socialization, which often fosters a sense of belonging, helps develop social skills and promotes growth.
Metrics: Socialization, Self-improvement, Long-term benefits
Substantives:
Self-improvement
- Provides healthy competition and motivation essential for growth
- Helps form good habits with the supervision of friends
Socialization
- Develop critical social skills:
- exactly through peer pressure → individual learns how to set boundaries and stand by their values → “without opposition is no progression”
- Empathy and cooperation → important in modern workplace
- Strengthen bonds and reduce isolation → especially in today’s more and more isolated society
Long-term benefits
- Harmful aspects are often short-term → ppl outgrow it / teens experiment so that they can learn to set limits
Alternatives
- Instead of trashing peer-pressure, we can teach critical thinking, promote positive peer groups etc.
2. THBT security cameras are an invasion of our privacy
Gov
Clarification:
- the indiscriminate use of security camera in public and especially private spaces
Metrics: Freedom and trust, security
Substantives:
Freedom and trust
- Public spaces not equal to consent to surveillance: ppl have rights to be anonymous, instead of being monitored all the time → a culture of constant monitoring, a culture of disbelief, the erosion of trust
- Potential for hacking and leaks → can spy on families (esp. hotels!), blackmail individuals, or livestreams private moments
- Exploited by corporations: use cameras not just for security reasons but also to analyse shopping habits, to manipulate ppl’s behaviours.
Security
- A false sense of security
- Instead of stopping crimes, criminals just become more creative/move to unmonitored areas
- Over-reliance on tech - lazy to make policies to address security issues → resort to passive surveillance → “we have cameras, no need to pay attention!”
- Alternatives: better policies / better lighting to improve human visibility
Opp
Clarification:
- Cameras in public spaces to protect the vulnerable and to enhance public safety
Metrics: Life, Justice
Substantives:
Life
- It saves lives and prevents crimes → deterrence / identifying culprits. Stakeholders: vulnerable ppl such as children, women and elder ppl → a child’s safety is more important
Justice
- prevent false accusation, e.g. being accused of theft
- the accountability of the powerful, e.g. the police
Privacy problems not that serious
- Public spaces have no expectation of much privacy. Cameras merely record what anyone could see.
- Measures preventing misuse like auto-deletion
3. THBT the age of taking criminal responsibility should be reduced
Gov
Clarification:
- not to treat young children as adults, but to hold teens accountable in age-appropriate ways when they commit serious crimes. “responsibility” → not prisons, but education centres: instead of throwing kids in jails, institutions provide counselling, probation etc.
Metrics: Justice, Education
Substantives:
The failure of the current system
- Rocketing youth crime rates (statistical fact)
- Light consequences lead to worse behaviours later → deterrence
- Family members fail to intervene → many are absent or abusive, esp. in the households of “problematic children” → can only resort to legal means
Education
- Early intervention is helpful → more effective when they are accustomed to crimes
- Educate instead of damning → community service, learning centre or therapy
Justice
- Victim’s rights → the culprits should be held accountable
- Public trust → when a child commits severe crime and walks away freely, public faith in justice collapses → the erosion of trust
Opp
Clarification: Harsh, punitive measures for young children
Metrics: Justice, Personal development
Substantives:
Justice
- Justice of the young: brains not fully developed (a biological reality) → more impulsive → same treatments are not reasonable
- Kids are more susceptible to external environments, coercion by adults etc. → who should be held accountable?
- Wrong convictions → children falsely confess when interrogated because they do not know the severity of such an act
Harms
- Labelling → low self-esteem → vicious cycle
- Harms future prospects because of a mistake made during childhood
- Exposure to violence and isolation during detention → harms character formation