Exploring Value Orientations Among Young People – Debate Forum Held

25/04/2026

In our previous post, we reported on the launch of the Földkelte Foundation's project focusing on young people's value orientations and social attitudes. We are now reporting on one of the programme's key events: a debate forum attended by nearly 100 secondary school students.

The aim of the project is to gain a deeper understanding of how young people think about important social, ethical and environmental issues today, what values shape their opinions, and how they relate to the question of individual and collective responsibility. At the same time, we also want to create opportunities for young people to speak about these topics themselves, encounter different perspectives, articulate their own views and develop arguments to support them.

The project is being implemented with the support of Bethlen Gábor Alapkezelő Zrt. within the framework of the Városi Civil Alap programme.

Research and Dialogue – Two Approaches, One Common Goal

As part of the project, we are exploring the value orientations of young people with the involvement of students from a secondary school in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County.

One element of the project is a questionnaire-based study involving 120 young people aged between 14 and 20. Through the survey, we are examining the participants' attitudes towards social and ethical issues. The data collected will be analysed and interpreted, and the findings of the research will be summarised in an analytical study.

Another important pillar of the project, however, is personal interaction and dialogue. We wanted to bring the topics explored in the questionnaire closer to young people, approach them from different perspectives, raise questions and provide space for the students themselves to share what they think about these issues.

The debate forum held as part of the project served precisely this purpose.

Six Themes – Questions That Concern Us All

The research and the debate forum are based on the same main thematic areas. We selected issues that may also be relevant to young people's everyday lives while raising important social and ethical dilemmas.

The six main themes of the project are:

animal cruelty and responsible pet ownership;

social exclusion, abuse and acceptance;

food waste and responsible resource management;

antisocial behaviour, vandalism and the protection of cultural heritage;

war and peace;

environmental destruction and environmental protection.

Although these areas may seem unrelated at first glance, they all raise a common question: how do we relate to the world around us, to other people, to animals, to our environment and to our shared values, and how much responsibility are we willing to take as individuals and as a community for all of these?

Nearly 100 Young People Took Part in the Debate Forum

As one of the key events of the project, we organised the debate forum at the secondary school in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County where the data collection for the research is also taking place. Nearly 100 students took part in the event.

We designed the forum so that the young people would not simply be listeners, but active participants in the programme.

To explore the individual topics, we screened films that allowed us to approach the issues raised through concrete situations, stories and real-life problems. The films provided thought-provoking starting points for the discussions and debates that followed.

After the screenings, we encouraged the participants to think together by posing questions and introducing different perspectives. Through structured debates, we brought the students' viewpoints into dialogue with one another, giving them the opportunity to express their own opinions, argue in support of them, respond to their peers' ideas, and listen to perspectives different from their own.

Arguments, Counterarguments and a Wide Range of Perspectives

The debate forum gave rise to meaningful discussions, interesting insights, arguments and counterarguments.

Among other things, we discussed how young people perceive animal cruelty and what responsible pet ownership means to them. We also addressed abuse, exclusion and acceptance, as well as the responsibility a community may have to ensure that its members feel safe.

We reflected on food waste and our own consumption habits, the protection of our shared environment and cultural heritage, and the role individuals can play in all of this.

The topic of war and peace raised particularly complex questions. Participants expressed different views on conflict resolution, the prospects for peace, the human consequences of war, and individual and collective responsibility.

During the discussions on environmental protection, we also focused on how our everyday decisions are connected to the state of our environment and how much we are willing to take on individually in order to protect our natural heritage.

The Goal Was Not for Everyone to Think the Same Way

One of the most important aspects of the debate forum was precisely that we did not want to provide ready-made answers or strive for everyone to arrive at the same opinion.

Instead, we encouraged young people to examine the issues raised from different perspectives, reflect carefully on their own positions, identify arguments and counterarguments, and listen to how others view the same questions.

For us, the discussions with nearly 100 participants were valuable as well. Through their contributions, ideas and debates, we were able to gain a more direct insight into the way young people think, as well as the perspectives and values that shape their views on the issues surrounding them.

The forum also demonstrated that these topics matter to young people. They have questions, firm opinions, doubts, arguments and counterarguments – and it is worth creating opportunities for them to discuss all of these with one another.

Asking Questions, Making Arguments, Listening to One Another

We believe that helping young people navigate social issues requires more than simply providing information. It also requires the experience of thinking together and engaging in dialogue.

We hope that the films, thought-provoking questions, structured debates and meaningful discussions will help participants examine individual issues from multiple perspectives, develop their own opinions more consciously, and remain open to the views of others.

We consider it important for young people to experience that it is possible to think differently about the same question, and that it is possible to argue and debate while also paying attention to and responding to one another's thoughts.

With the debate forum, our project has reached another important milestone. In the coming period, our focus will turn to processing the experiences and results of the questionnaire-based research.

In our next post, we will present in detail how the research was carried out and the methodology used, and we will also share the study's most important findings and the conclusions that can be drawn from them.

Until then, we will carry forward one of the most important lessons from the debate forum: young people have something to say about the issues that affect them and society – and it is worth creating space for them to express it.