If parliament had allowed 16-18 to vote
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Don't be silly. I can tell you now 16 year olds don't really care about politics and even if they voted remain there would probably be a low turnout in that age range.
I am 16 and would have voted to leave if I were given the chance, I was not allowed to vote and you don't see me sulking so grow up.
Original post by teenhorrorstory
If 16-18 years old were allowed to vote in the referendum, then it's very likely that remain would have actually won. There's a very clear trend that shows how the elderly are very anti EU while the younger people tend to be pro EU. It's very frustrating for me as a 17 year old to see decisions being made by people who will honestly die within the next 10 years while I am unable to have a say. The future belongs to us, the youth. 
If 16&17 YOs could vote we would still leave, there are barely enough to close yhe gap, turnout was well below 100%, as was the remain lead, then againit comes as no surprises that you're trying to claim you were cheated
im happy we left. we werent respected or listened to in the Eu. people saying if you wanted to leave you cant complain' are hypocrites because they are the same people who complain about our country every day and say how they hate the pm. all of a sudden people are acting like they love the country and how its going. they would have kept complaining if it kept going how it was before. all the people i know just copied what their friends said. they didnt make a decision for themselves. so im glad we didnt have the vote, and im glad we left.
Original post by Nooglepop
I'm sorry, but just because this was how you felt at 16 - 18, doesn't mean that all 16 - 18 year olds have little knowledge of politics or business. And they have to live with the consequences - of course we will worry when it affects our future. Also, hindsight belittles memories and feelings, and while it is lovely to remember teenage years as days of wine and roses, it is important to remember that the thoughts and feeling of young people are just as valid as those of adults and the eldery. You say you hadn't got a clue about politics at 18. But at that age, you would have been able to vote. Therefore, surely if clueless 18 year olds can vote, then clueless 16 and 17 year olds should be able to vote too. School and university is the key element of many young people's lives, but this is because it holds such an importance for their future - surely this demonstrates that young people are forward thinking, rather than indicating that they are only concerned with the present. As politics has a direct effect on our education, I would say it is fair for us to want a say in it.
Also, although I appreciate you did not mean it as a put down, I think that the majority of adults also vote after latching onto a couple of key ideas - it is rare that people really consider all the reasons for voting one way or another. I know that what happened today was important, and as it was important for MY future, I would have liked to have a say in it. I'd prefer not to have to trust other people to make decisions for me - is that not the same argument people used to say that men could vote on the behalf of women, who were supposedly more easily led and less fit to vote? I don't believe that we have done the right thing leaving the EU - this is not because I am ignorant, or frightened, or stupid, or young - this is because through a balanced weighing up of the evidence on both sides, I have come to this conclusion. And my parents trusted me enough to ask me to explain both sides of the argument to them, and to tell them who I would vote for. They said they trusted me to make the decision myself.
You say 16 - 18 year olds don't realise how important this decision was. Why would I be saying I wish I'd had a vote if I didn't know how important the referendum was? And with all due respect, I think it is essential that 16 - 18 year olds do keep worrying about politics. If they don't worry, they won't ever gain information about politics; they won't ever gain this important life experience; we won't ever have the skills required to vote.
So this argument isn't dumb, but important. It's important because it's about 16 - 18 year olds wanting to have a say over their future. And it's important because it represents a wave of young people showing an interest in politics and business. If you resent this, you are saying you would prefer a generation of young people to grow up ignorant and uninterested, and personally, I think that is quite a dumb idea.
I appreciate your views and opinions, even if I don't agree with them. By the way, I'm 15, so even if 16 and 17 year olds had been allowed to vote, I wouldn't have had a say. :-(
Also, although I appreciate you did not mean it as a put down, I think that the majority of adults also vote after latching onto a couple of key ideas - it is rare that people really consider all the reasons for voting one way or another. I know that what happened today was important, and as it was important for MY future, I would have liked to have a say in it. I'd prefer not to have to trust other people to make decisions for me - is that not the same argument people used to say that men could vote on the behalf of women, who were supposedly more easily led and less fit to vote? I don't believe that we have done the right thing leaving the EU - this is not because I am ignorant, or frightened, or stupid, or young - this is because through a balanced weighing up of the evidence on both sides, I have come to this conclusion. And my parents trusted me enough to ask me to explain both sides of the argument to them, and to tell them who I would vote for. They said they trusted me to make the decision myself.
You say 16 - 18 year olds don't realise how important this decision was. Why would I be saying I wish I'd had a vote if I didn't know how important the referendum was? And with all due respect, I think it is essential that 16 - 18 year olds do keep worrying about politics. If they don't worry, they won't ever gain information about politics; they won't ever gain this important life experience; we won't ever have the skills required to vote.
So this argument isn't dumb, but important. It's important because it's about 16 - 18 year olds wanting to have a say over their future. And it's important because it represents a wave of young people showing an interest in politics and business. If you resent this, you are saying you would prefer a generation of young people to grow up ignorant and uninterested, and personally, I think that is quite a dumb idea.
I appreciate your views and opinions, even if I don't agree with them. By the way, I'm 15, so even if 16 and 17 year olds had been allowed to vote, I wouldn't have had a say. :-(
Wowz u litrally summed up exactly what i was thinking!!!!!!!!!!! Im 15 too and i told my parents what i would vote for (remain) even before they had a chance to read up about pros + cons of both. They eventually came to a conclusion and voted remain too (after they read everything neccessary to make a good decision) Generally they dont think that 16 year olds should get the vote because they arent mature enough but they understand that im not swayed by people around me and make decisions according to what is best (my friend is a strong brexit supporter and we had debates about why we would vote) What i dont get though, is why 16 year olds are mature enough to make huge decisions such as go to the army, and get married but arent mature enough to have their say in somthing that effects them a whole lot more than older people!
Original post by TheASM98
Only 36% of 18-24 years olds bothered to vote, so would 16/17 years olds voting even make a significant difference?
Nope, the product of registration, turnout, and the remain majority would need to be about 85% or so for 16+17 to change anything, so even with 100% turnout for 16 and 17 YOs we would have left
Posted from TSR Mobile
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by teenhorrorstory
If 16-18 years old were allowed to vote in the referendum, then it's very likely that remain would have actually won. There's a very clear trend that shows how the elderly are very anti EU while the younger people tend to be pro EU. It's very frustrating for me as a 17 year old to see decisions being made by people who will honestly die within the next 10 years while I am unable to have a say.
Considering the turnout for 18-24 year olds was below 50% because they are all lazy good-for-nuthin's, and giving the vote to 16 year olds would only make it look like more of a joke, I wouldn't be so sure.
Learn from your elders. If you think Brusells should have authority over British politicians than the very least you can do to complement that view is to listen to your elders.
The future belongs to you, enormous pension funds belong to the elderly. They have enormous influence on the economy, you are dependant on it. Should we listen to GCSE students or people with money?
Original post by Blue_Mason
Oh please, most 16 - 18 year olds are clueless when it comes to politics and making important decisions.
Actually I think that a lot of 16-18 year olds are very engaged in politics now and even more would be if they were allowed to vote and they thought that their opinion mattered
Has anyone pulled the actual data for this? If not, from my sources:
Referendum was won by a margin of 1,269,501. Population estimates for the most recent data (2015) for 16 + 17yr olds was 1,513,008.
In the Scottish referendum it's estimated that 75% of 16-17yr olds voted. So that would give us 1,134,756 as an estimate of UK 16-17yr olds who would vote. Even IF they all then voted 100% to remain it wouldn't have been enough
www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/179812/Scottish-independence-referendum-report.pdf
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/datasets/populationestimatesforukenglandandwalesscotlandandnorthernireland
Referendum was won by a margin of 1,269,501. Population estimates for the most recent data (2015) for 16 + 17yr olds was 1,513,008.
In the Scottish referendum it's estimated that 75% of 16-17yr olds voted. So that would give us 1,134,756 as an estimate of UK 16-17yr olds who would vote. Even IF they all then voted 100% to remain it wouldn't have been enough
www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/179812/Scottish-independence-referendum-report.pdf
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/datasets/populationestimatesforukenglandandwalesscotlandandnorthernireland
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by teenhorrorstory
If 16-18 years old were allowed to vote in the referendum, then it's very likely that remain would have actually won.
The figures do not support your claim.
Original post by teenhorrorstory
If 16-18 years old were allowed to vote in the referendum, then it's very likely that remain would have actually won. There's a very clear trend that shows how the elderly are very anti EU while the younger people tend to be pro EU. It's very frustrating for me as a 17 year old to see decisions being made by people who will honestly die within the next 10 years while I am unable to have a say. The future belongs to us, the youth.
You don't have the vote because you don't have life experience. You, at this point, are a mirror of the ideology of your professors, those who decided your curriculum, and the media. You are a reflection of the establishment. It is your elders and ancestors who built this country, and you'll have a chance to build it too, but only if the Brexit is carried out. If it isn't, and we stay in the EU, then you'll have no say at all, ever. How can you be so outraged by the votes of older people who know more than you, while not see any problem in unelected bureaucrats deciding on the policies of an entire continent? Your worldview is inconsistent.
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by Reue
Has anyone pulled the actual data for this? If not, from my sources:
Referendum was won by a margin of 1,269,501. Population estimates for the most recent data (2015) for 16 + 17yr olds was 1,513,008.
In the Scottish referendum it's estimated that 75% of 16-17yr olds voted. So that would give us 1,134,756 as an estimate of UK 16-17yr olds who would vote. Even IF they all then voted 100% to remain it wouldn't have been enough
www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/179812/Scottish-independence-referendum-report.pdf
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/datasets/populationestimatesforukenglandandwalesscotlandandnorthernireland
Referendum was won by a margin of 1,269,501. Population estimates for the most recent data (2015) for 16 + 17yr olds was 1,513,008.
In the Scottish referendum it's estimated that 75% of 16-17yr olds voted. So that would give us 1,134,756 as an estimate of UK 16-17yr olds who would vote. Even IF they all then voted 100% to remain it wouldn't have been enough
www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/179812/Scottish-independence-referendum-report.pdf
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/datasets/populationestimatesforukenglandandwalesscotlandandnorthernireland
Exactly, as I posted earlier here there would need to be a 220% turnout (ie impossible) of all 16/17 year olds for Remain and Leave to draw. Let's stop complaining about democracy when you disagree with the result and get on with it!!!
Oh dear. If the right to vote is based on how young you are and how long you will potentially live to, we would give 5 year olds the vote and over 70s would be denied it.
16 year olds are still, in British and international law, children. The vast majority still live with their parents, have not yet raised a family, do not pay taxes (if they have a job at all), have never paid bills, and so on. This age group simply don't have the emotional or mental maturity or the life experience to be trusted with making decisions in politics.
To those complaining about the fact old people were allowed to vote in the referendum. Firstly, you should feel ashamed for your ageism towards the elderly population - the lack of respect for older people among some in this country is disgusting. Secondly, everyone's vote counts exactly the same, just as it should.
What you have to understand is, we had a referendum on EC (predecessor to EU) membership in 1975, the vast majority of the people who are over 60 now voted to stay in the EC back then. They thought we were joining something that was just about trading with Germany, France and our other European neighbors. They have watched as the EU has taken more and more powers, as less and less power has been in the hands of the British people, how politicians have lied time and time again about the EU, how many new poorer countries joined the union, how this has caused a uncontrolled wave of migration that has rapidly changed the face of our nation. After all this, now they have been given a chance to vote again, most of them changed their mind and voted to Leave. Older voters, who have experience 40 years of an ever expanding EU placing more costs on the UK, have saved us from suffering many more decades of this.
I know many on the Remain side are still captivated by Project Fear, but in reality everything's going to be alright, better than alright. Infact, I think in 20 years time few people will openly admit to having voted Remain. In Norway and Switzerland, two other western European nations happily outside the EU, support for EU membership is more or less a politically fringe view. In time I believe that will become the case in Britain.
A version of that chart in the opening post should be made to show how long the age groups have lived with the EU...
Oh yeah, I don't think letting 16 and 17 year olds vote would have changed the outcome, though would likely have narrowed it
16 year olds are still, in British and international law, children. The vast majority still live with their parents, have not yet raised a family, do not pay taxes (if they have a job at all), have never paid bills, and so on. This age group simply don't have the emotional or mental maturity or the life experience to be trusted with making decisions in politics.
To those complaining about the fact old people were allowed to vote in the referendum. Firstly, you should feel ashamed for your ageism towards the elderly population - the lack of respect for older people among some in this country is disgusting. Secondly, everyone's vote counts exactly the same, just as it should.
What you have to understand is, we had a referendum on EC (predecessor to EU) membership in 1975, the vast majority of the people who are over 60 now voted to stay in the EC back then. They thought we were joining something that was just about trading with Germany, France and our other European neighbors. They have watched as the EU has taken more and more powers, as less and less power has been in the hands of the British people, how politicians have lied time and time again about the EU, how many new poorer countries joined the union, how this has caused a uncontrolled wave of migration that has rapidly changed the face of our nation. After all this, now they have been given a chance to vote again, most of them changed their mind and voted to Leave. Older voters, who have experience 40 years of an ever expanding EU placing more costs on the UK, have saved us from suffering many more decades of this.
I know many on the Remain side are still captivated by Project Fear, but in reality everything's going to be alright, better than alright. Infact, I think in 20 years time few people will openly admit to having voted Remain. In Norway and Switzerland, two other western European nations happily outside the EU, support for EU membership is more or less a politically fringe view. In time I believe that will become the case in Britain.
A version of that chart in the opening post should be made to show how long the age groups have lived with the EU...
Oh yeah, I don't think letting 16 and 17 year olds vote would have changed the outcome, though would likely have narrowed it
Original post by Blue_Mason
Oh please, most 16 - 18 year olds are clueless when it comes to politics and making important decisions.
just like 52% of voters tbh.Original post by AnnieGakusei
I feel so ashamed of the immaturity of our generation, especially when it comes to name-calling. Everyone was discussing it in school, and did absolutely nothing but mud-sling about the "BS" of the Leave campaign (which made me just feel acutely uncomfortable because I genuinely thought I was going to be verbally abused for my views, and made me glad that I was never a vocal Brexiter). Well, that "BS" is what won the vote...
Urgh, I remember standing at the train station and this pair of high school girls walked up, sat down and promptly started dismissing all Leave voters as racists and bigots. Not only did they not have a clue what they were discussing they had the arrogance to dismiss all Leave voters as 'xenophobes.' Pretty much the only thing I heard off Remainers before the vote is 'thas rayciss!!!' No actual facts or substance was said.
I've even encountered teenagers who think that Britain will physically be moved from Europe
It's a damn good thing people younger than 18 aren't allowed to vote
Wouldn't have made any difference as nobody that age would bother to go out and vote.
I don't agree with 16 year olds being able to vote. At that age you've barely left school, you've had no exposure to the real world, never contributed to the economy... how can you make an informed decision about how the country should be run when you've never experienced it?
I don't agree with 16 year olds being able to vote. At that age you've barely left school, you've had no exposure to the real world, never contributed to the economy... how can you make an informed decision about how the country should be run when you've never experienced it?
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by Craig1998 just like 52% of voters tbh.
just like 52% of voters tbh."I don't like democracy so will demean the people who disagree with me to justify why democracy is broken"
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Original post by MrMackyTv
Don't be silly. I can tell you now 16 year olds don't really care about politics.
Spoiler
Original post by MrMackyTv
Don't be silly. I can tell you now 16 year olds don't really care about politics and even if they voted remain there would probably be a low turnout in that age range.
They do care.
I disagree, the turnout rate would be quite high. It's the first time that age range would be allowed to vote, and so I think we'd be looking at similar turnout rates to the Scottish referendum where 16&17 year olds could vote(I think it was around 75% for 16-18)
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