[Quady]

(Original post by electriic_ink)
Well there's the problem. I don't see how anyone can believe that 16 years olds are mature enough to decide whether or not they want to die for their country (which is precisely what makes them perfect candidates for the army).

Trying to argue for a change in the voting age based on precedents set by other laws is stupid anyway. Five year olds can legally drink - are they mature enough to drink responsibly? Of course not! And yet the law assumes they are.

Its just an odd anomaly, if you can take a job pay tax and carry a weapon it seems the state expects 16 year olds can take more responsibility than is needed to decide who to vote for, which for the majority of the population is blindly following their parents.

[vox001]

Hell no. Half the 16yo's at my school can barely grasp the English language, let alone its political system.

[Aquar]

I'm 16 and I will strongly say NO. I would hate to think that the imbeciles I share a classroom with for 6 hours a day were allowed to vote, those of them that can read, anyway.

[Quady]

(Original post by Aquar)
I'm 16 and I will strongly say NO. I would hate to think that the imbeciles I share a classroom with for 6 hours a day were allowed to vote, those of them that can read, anyway.

But in two years they'll be ready?

[Quady]

(Original post by vox001)
Hell no. Half the 16yo's at my school can barely grasp the English language, let alone its political system.

But they will in the next 24 months?

[Aquar]

(Original post by Quady)
But in two years they'll be ready?

In a lot of cases, no. But hell 18 is better than 16!

[Quady]

(Original post by Aquar)
In a lot of cases, no. But hell 18 is better than 16!

Better make it 65 then

[Aquar]

(Original post by Quady)
Better make it 65 then

I don't think that was as funny as you hoped it would be.

[Quady]

(Original post by Aquar)
I don't think that was as funny as you hoped it would be.

It wasn't supposed to be.

Or do you mean just keep raising the age at which people can vote, ie those under 17 in 2012 won't be allowed to vote until say 2050?

Or how do you think the situation you've described should be resolved?

[Foghorn Leghorn]

(Original post by internetguru)
I remember on some BBC programme they said "if you are old enough to die for your country then you are old enough to vote". People are allowed to join the army at 16 therefore yes it should be lowered.

Yeah but you're not allowed to serve in a war until you're 18.

[jackf1337]

Absolutely not. People jump on bandwagons at that age. Myself included

[Aquar]

(Original post by Quady)
It wasn't supposed to be.

Or do you mean just keep raising the age at which people can vote, ie those under 17 in 2012 won't be allowed to vote until say 2050?

Or how do you think the situation you've described should be resolved?

How the problem would be resolved is irrelevant - the point is, it would not be helped by making the age to vote 16.

[Quady]

(Original post by Aquar)
How the problem would be resolved is irrelevant - the point is, it would not be helped by making the age to vote 16.

It might make them more interested, instead of the transformation to being part of the electorate between 17 and 18, it'd be between 15 and 16.

[ChapelTom]

I'd say yes.

If you lowered it to 16, does it mean people would vote? Maybe wome would, and that's a good thing, engaging people in the political system early makes it easier for them to understand. A lot of people come 18 get the same stereotypical beliefs about parties and government.

Peoples opinions and beliefs change at 16, 18 but don't views change over a lifetime anyway? Learning about politics should be part of teenagers education, if people understand it more, they are more likely to vote and engage in the democracy we live in. Some people think, "politics doesn't matter, I can't vote until I'm 18" well it immediately puts people off. Some people they don't get to vote in a general election until they are 22/23 because elections fall at the wrong time. I'll not have a change to vote until I'm almost 23 as I was 18 6 months after the last election. Everyone should surely have voted or be given the chance in a general election by the time they reach 21, having a say even if a vote won't change anything is something.

If you want people interested in politics, turnouts up then engage people earlier and people a chance to vote at 16.

[t0ffee]

Yeah as in a 4 year government cycle, the policies that a government will enact will be in full force by the time the 16 year old voters are 20.

[Over The Rainbow X]

No.

I know that when I was 16 I wasn't well informed when it came to politics. However, now, being a month off 18, I can say I do have a good understanding of politics (probably to do with the fact we have to take compulsory Citizenship, and I have also taken a great interest in politics outside of the classroom).

I feel at 16, you haven't had enough experience of the real world in order to make such decisions. There are going to be exceptions to the rule, but on the whole, I don't think a 16 year old is ready to make that decision.

[emcero]

I think that before we address the voting age we need to have some sort of compulsory political education happening in schools as a lot of people get to voting age and still don't know what they're voting for, or the technicalities of it. I also think this sort of education would see an increase in voter turnout as people would be more informed and as a result perhaps more inclined to vote. But thats just my opinion.

[Ann Widdecombe]

Absolutely not. What a 16-year-old thinks about politics is about as relevant and useful as what a donkey thinks about astrophysics. Half of them will either try and vote for Britney Spears or the S Club 7, and the other half will be brainwashed by socialists into voting for them without even thinking about it.

[SciFiRory]

why not? most 16 year old's I've met are no more or less knowledgeable about Politics then people I've met twice their age.

old enough to ****, old enough to join the army, old enough to vote makes sense to me, 16 is the age of consent at the moment, but it seems you can't consent to vote for your local politicians

[Oneiros]

Only if Politics becomes a compulsory subject to study in high school.