Want to campaign for the 16 year old vote?

Great post.

But your post is about campaigning to allow all 16 and 17 year olds to vote. Your selective example does not indicate that the majority of them are politically aware enough to be able to form an educated decision. One would naturally expect that a debating society would consists of students engaging in debates.




We must at one point draw a line between those who are mature enough to vote and those who aren't. In my opinion 18 year olds does not have enough life experience to vote, let alone 16 and 17 year olds.

Under 18s also tend to have very limited responsibility in society, as most have yet to pay tax and live on their own. In other words, they should experience life a little longer so that they are more well-rounded and hence more likely to hold a balanced and educated view.

I'm not saying that every 16 and 17 year olds are like this, but one must consider whether the age group is overall capable of knowing what's best for themselves and the country. In a situation where we cannot discriminate, we must consider the overall likelihood and make a judgement. At the moment I think the current age requirement is right, if not even slightly generous.

No. 16 year olds arent old enough. 18 has done ok by everyone for ages. If you have 16 now, then you will have 14 the next time and 12 the next.
I thought TSR was a private ciompany for profit and not a registered charity?
Now makes me deeply suspicious of their motives.

If you introduce politics into the national curriculum, you can make those who aren't mature enough to vote have the required knowledge to vote and make informed decisions, and knowledge and an understanding of politics is more important than life experience when it comes to voting, IMHO.

== We believe 16 and 17 year olds deserve to be heard in elections. If you agree and would like to get involved in researching our approach and then campaigning for change, please get in touch==

Having worked at The Student Room for 10 years, and as a College Governor at Brighton and Hove Sixth Form College, I've been overwhelmed by the number of highly engaged young students having really well informed debates on key political issues. This is sometimes more than can be said for much of the adult population.

As you turn 16 and 17 you gain the rights to get married, have children, join the army, drive, fly planes, as well as the to go to adult prison. As young people, you will also have to live with the consequences of political decisions for longer than any of the rest of us. To me it feels like a relic from the past that your voice is excluded from important political decisions. You have a right for your opinions to be listened to at the highest levels, and on the most important issues.

During the EU referendum our polls showed that 82% of 16 and 17 year olds wanted to Remain, so clearly your views were not well represented by the general voting population. Interestingly though, 16 and 17 year olds polled similarly to 18-24 year olds - 75% of whom voted Remain (YouGov after the vote), so broadly in line with your closest peers.

Scotland lowered the voting age to 16 in 2014 for the independence vote, and are now extending it for all elections. With the current sweeping political change in the UK we feel that the time is right to follow their lead, and to push to get the UK parliament to adopt this progressive position.

So with that in mind, we would like to identify driven members of the TSR community who would like to get involved in researching, refining our position, and campaigning for this change, with the support of TSR to assist with political contacts, public relations and lobbying. We will consider whether to go this alone, or to join up with other organisations.

As TSR is used by 75% of the 16-24 population, and gets 8.5 million visits to our websites each month, we are often approached, and listened to, by the political establishment as well as other media, and we feel it is right to use this position to help drive through a change we feel so passionately about.

If this is a cause that you feel strongly that you would like to help with, then post your interest in here, and we will get a private forum set-up to start discussing the best route forwards.

We want to do our bit to ensure your voice is heard. We hope you do too, and will join us in making this happen.

We understand their will be differences of opinion on this subject, and that's fine too.

Thanks

Chris

This is not an argument about who is mature and who isn't. If that is a legitimate argument surely immature people who are over 18 shouldn't be allowed to vote? That would never happen- It's a ridiculous idea.

Like the OP states people under 16 are able to marry, have children... The list goes on. They are also able to work, and hence pay taxes. Surely if someone pays into the system they should be allowed to have a say who runs that system!

I think it'll be a great idea. It's our future. Especially with the EU referendum. I wish I could've voted remain, as then I might've benn able to go to a German Uni, but now that seems to be impossible...

How do you know "our generation" complain about not having kids at 50? None of the young generation are 50. You absolute melt.