Should the voting age be lowered? Why or why not?

JustV

Amy22

I honestly don't mind the idea of like the vote being lowered as it means that a lot more of the younger generation will have a say so in decisions and who is a part of the government. However, I do feel that would some of them be responsible in the choices as when it comes to voting, it is a big responsibility having to vote for someone in power. Honestly, though I do feel like the younger generation should be more involved I'm politics as they will be our future and will shape that future too.

sinead276

I do think it should be lowered to about 16. I think it's so important for young people to be able to have their say in politics and the decisions made by the government as they would be just affected as they enter adulthood in the next couple of years. I'm also aware that it could be argued that they may not vote responsibly / in a serious way so we could also do more to educate young people on the seriousness of voting and the political systems in general.

independent_

It should absolutely be lowered, it’s worked in Scotland. We already have a lot of rights at 16, and if we can do things like marry, have kids, leave home and join the army, we should have the right to vote for the people who represent us.

The thing about immaturity is a fair point, but i guess that could be the same for some 18 year olds too.

JustV

sinead276 wrote: »

I'm also aware that it could be argued that they may not vote responsibly / in a serious way so we could also do more to educate young people on the seriousness of voting and the political systems in general.

independent_ wrote: »

The thing about immaturity is a fair point, but i guess that could be the same for some 18 year olds too.

This is such an interesting one. I used to feel conflicted about this too, until I found that most of the adults in my life weren't very informed or 'mature' about politics anyway. 😅

M3GANx04

I believe that the legal voting age should be lowered to 16.
It is the younger generation that politics influences the most in terms of housing, work and personal life. Therefore, they deserve a say in the political influence that creates the world they live in. However, alongside this lowered voting age needs to be a prioritisation of better political understanding taught through schools. Politics is not currently a part of the general curriculum and many people have large misconceptions about specific parties, which may be untrue. It's important that children gain a wider understanding of the thing which impacts them so directly, and have a say in it.

PetiteQuark

I believe the voting age should be lowered to 16.
16 year olds can give consent, start jobs, leave school, leave home, choose their GPs, why can't they vote?

People may think that 16 year olds are 'immature' but like others have said, the exact same thing could be said for 18 year olds.

I think 16 year olds are capable of understanding what the government does. And im not saying this because im a 16 year old myself. Sometimes the government may decide on (unfair) changes that may affect 16 year olds who are in college or secondary school, or working (doing apprenticeships).

For example, rishi sunaks 'british baccalaureate'
plan which, from my understanding, is complete nonsense. There is no 'anti-maths mindset' in fact, theres stigma around those who aren't good at maths, theres a massive stigma around those who go onto the vocational pathway. There's actually stigma around 'soft subjects.'
Not all people are able to do subjects that involve lots of maths. There are things such as dyscalculia which might make maths and subjects that involve maths quite difficult for people who are affected by dyscalculia. Anyways im not entirely sure how he will implement a 'baccalaureate' because education is so underfunded. Which is wrong. Education should get more money.

Even though im not in high school anymore (im in 6th form) it will affect those younger than me, those who are still in secondary school. Already, when i was doing my gcses (year 9-11) there was alot of pressure, and not everyone is meant to do STEM subjects, not just because of dyscalulia or anything like that, but when you do STEM subjects, students are more competitive and might think they're smarter than everyone else (some of the alevel physics students were like that when i told them i might retake my gcses to get on to alevel physics...) But im not trying to hate on stem students, i aspire to be one, and i think im going off a tangent talking about rishis baccaleaurate
thats besides the point im trying to make.

16 year olds are more capable than people think they are, at 16 we have finished high school, we have been through the pressure of gcses, and we would be moving on with our lives, going onto higher education or work. Furthermore, the younger generation are the ones who will be more influenced by the changes the government makes, the younger generation is also most affected by global warming and climate change aswell. So i think we should get a say in what will happen to us. Otherwise that would be a bit unfair.

cc_ilaria

This is a tricky one I think yes, it should be lowered to 16 if they introduce more education on voting/the importance of being mature about it. But also some ways no, as many 16 year olds I know wouldn’t be very mature when voting. I supposed it depends on the person though. I clicked the wrong poll vote 🤭 honestly I am unsure.

My birthday is in september, so I turned 16 right at the start of year 11. Looking back to then, I was not mature enough to vote but I also did not feel ready to do everything else that is allowed at 16 haha. It does depend on the person but I would say its fair and makes sense to lower it to 16. Definitely with all the other things you can do at this age

toffuna101

it should stay at 18 since many teenagers (not all) still don't know much about politics at 16 and would probably vote for what their parents/carers vote. it has been stated that a teenager is more likely to get their news from social media rather than news sites that may spread misinformation. also you have to remember that schools rarely teach politics at a gcse level, its more common at a level. so how will they have the proper decision-making skills to make a logical decision? you could argue that's the case for other things that are allowed at 16 such as buying a pet and moving home. its rare for a 16-year-old to move out during the cost of living crisis anyway and that decision is life-altering. then again, im not even 16 let alone 18 yet i hope this made sense

AnonymousToe

I’m not sure. I feel like I was way too young to have any idea what was going on with politics at 16, I still have no idea now at 18 lol. But at the same time, it’s the younger people who’ll be most affected by it. I think the best thing could be to have a maximum voting age. Like 75 or something, just so that the weighting is more towards the younger people? I dont know lol.

Random_don

I'm gonna be honest, I voted no but I genuinely don't care whether it is or not, whether the age limit to vote is 16 or 60 it doesn't make a difference, democracy and the idea that people in this country "have a say" whatever that means, is a complete scam. Quite frankly we need to rip the current political /state system to shreds and start again, as per the julius evola idea of revolution, which is going back to the starting point. Then we can make something that will better us

yana

@Random_don politics is fucked and our government are just making a mess of everything, as they have been for years. but i believe the voting age being lowered would make somewhat of a difference. the older generations typically have so many different views and i know this is a huge generalisation to make but in a LOT of cases our generation see things pretty differently and it's important to draw light to our opinions too. even if it isn't much light, it's something and a bit of representation is better than no representation. having said that, I do think that the majority of 16 year olds don't have a very developed understanding of politics. but i also know so many adults who are just politically fucking dumb. for example, i know someone who is a strong tory but every time im debating against him he agrees with all of my points. i dont think he really understands conservative policies very well.

but despite all of this, im kind of doubting everytbing ive just said lol. I'm losing faith in humanity and agree with u to some extent because fucking tories have made everything into a mess. even like more generally. politics all around the world arent great. america had fucking trump. and with social media and the way everything is i just cant see society recovering at this point. but maybe that's just me being pessimistic. i know there are countries such as norway that do prove thst society isnt hopeless. their prison system is incredible and focuses on rehabilitation rather than punishment which is just one change they've made thst the rest of the world should implement too. norway's super cool.

another thing i wanted to add is even if schools do teach politics in school @toffuna101 it often isn't taught in the correct way, at least in my opinion. like with economics, people are essentially brainwashed into accepting the way our economy works. everything is rigged and shit and biased and rich posh white bastard straight males end up being the ones in power. i think a more sociological stance on politics would be beneficial because my sociology a level has taught me abojt so much different political views and it has helped me see the world through lots of different lenses. I'm not sure if that makes sense or if I'm just waffling lol, it's been a long day.

toffuna101

yana wrote: »

another thing i wanted to add is even if schools do teach politics in school @toffuna101 it often isn't taught in the correct way, at least in my opinion. like with economics, people are essentially brainwashed into accepting the way our economy works. everything is rigged and shit and biased and rich posh white bastard straight males end up being the ones in power. i think a more sociological stance on politics would be beneficial because my sociology a level has taught me abojt so much different political views and it has helped me see the world through lots of different lenses. I'm not sure if that makes sense or if I'm just waffling lol, it's been a long day

with politics being such a controversial topic on all fronts, yes you do have a point. thats why its essential for teachers and educational staff to take a more neutral route on politics, regardless on their own personal opinions.
for example, political impartiality allows teachers to make balanced arguments about political issues around the world. it gives young people the chance to gain access to each side of the argument, without being influenced by authority figures. in practice however this is quite hard to achieve, due to extenuating circumstances. i hope this makes sense @yana