Do you thinking the voting age should be lowered to 16?

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Reply 40

HumbleBee_x

it will add more weight to the decision, and plus turnout is high

Original post by Obolinda

will it make any significant difference :question:

Reply 41

Mike172

Original post by HumbleBee_x

Well issues like Brexit affect us more, so yeah.

How?

If Brexit will have such an impact on young people then maybe more of you should have got out of bed to vote.

Reply 42

Jammy Duel

Original post by CoolCavy

Not for elections, things like referendums are a tad different as they arent regularly scheduled and could be a once in a lifetime thing that has consequences for generations.
In general 16 year olds are far too immature and dont know as much as they think they do the majority of the time :redface:

So why is somebody responsible enough or whatever to make a decision that may be once in a lifetime but not for something that happens on a regular basis, if the age requirements are going to be different then if anything it should be the other way around

Reply 43

Jammy Duel

Original post by Retired_Messiah

None of our age related legislation in this country has any real consistency. You can join the army at 16, legally be a parent from 16 years and 9 months (assuming you get a nut day of hitting age of consent and don't have a premature baby), so you're trusted to be able to train in order to die for the country, and you're trusted to be able to give birth, not harm your baby during pregnancy and then take care of your baby, all before the age of 17.

17 however is the cut off point before you're trusted behind the wheel of a car. Can have a moped at 16 though, as though that's somehow less dangerous. At 16 your train tickets turn to adult tickets, whereas my local bus offers a special type of ticket for anybody under 19. You're also not allowed to buy booze until 18 even though most of us will have had a bash at trying some from our early-mid teens.

And you can't vote on ANY of these things until you're 18. For some reason.

With these facts in mind, **** it. Lower it to 16. If I can already learn to shoot a gun in the army at 16 I may as well be allowed to shoot myself in the foot via the political system while I'm at it.

And this is the exact line of argument that comes up every time, as per usual the caveats of joining the military are ignored (parental consent requirements and no front line deployment until an adult) while ignoring what is allowed at 18 (pretty much everything to do with the law), the exceptions rather than the norm are used as justification.

Reply 44

CoolCavy

Volunteer Team

Original post by Jammy Duel

It's more the impact it has on their lives, missing a general election doesn't have much impact as you can just get another chance in the max 4 years but with something like a referendum e.g Scotland or Brexit it's younger people who have to live with it for longer and there is no guarantee it will be voted on again.
That's just my opinion , you can have yours :smile:

Reply 45

CoolCavy

Volunteer Team

Original post by Mike172

How?

If Brexit will have such an impact on young people then maybe more of you should have got out of bed to vote.

Lots of young people wanted to vote but couldn't as they weren't 18, that's kind of the point of this thread.

Reply 46

Profesh

No: it should be raised to 45, and conditional upon receipt of at least a KBE.

Reply 47

random_matt

Should be increased to 25, 21 is probably more acceptable to most though.

Reply 48

Gent2324

Careers Forum Helper

there should be no age requirement, only a test to determine how clever you are. people who are not smart enough to figure out which party would be better shouldnt be voting for things they dont understand.
obviously thats not easily applicable, but age should not matter. there are people that are 13 and clever, there are people that are in their 60s and dumb as hell and vice versa.

Reply 49

Pharmacist23

Idk about loweing the age, but defo think there should be a maximum age to vote, like 65+ year olds as blunt as it is but they'll die in 15/25 years and most laws take years to apply (e.g. brexit) so I do believe those that the aging population shouldnt be making decisions for future generations. might be an unpopular opinion, but its an opinion :smile:

Reply 50

Kaffee_1998

Original post by MathsMania

Sometimes, hearing a lot of stuff about Brexit, knife crime and more stuff makes me feel annoyed that I don't have a say for a long time? Do you feel like that too?

At the time I wouldn't have cared, as is the case for most people that age who would've been too busy focusing on whatever stuff that was relevant to them at the time. I don't think it should be lowered mainly because 18 is the recognized age of adult responsibility.

Reply 51

rjckk

Do you mean you are only 16?
I think you should have right to involve in that issue.

Reply 52

Burridge

Original post by The Mogg

As a 16 year old, I would love to say yes so I could vote now. But no, absolutely not. Most 16 year olds have not formed strong enough or any political opinions, meaning they are wide open to indoctrination from parents, teachers etc.

Original post by xDron3

I had no idea when I turned 18 never mind 16.

16 year old's are susceptible to propaganda and are easy to win over. It's fine how it is.

Original post by Mike172

Absolutely not. I’d be in favour of raising the voting age, in fact.

Generally speaking a 16 year old doesn’t have nearly enough life experience, isn’t mature or developed enough to make such decisions.

Why do people need maturity or life experience to vote? Since when were either of these necessary to make an informed decision? As long as the pros and cons of the decision have been weighed up and the alternatives have been considered, that's all that matters.

We are all susceptible to propaganda and indoctrination. As mentioned before, 1 in 6 adults believe that the 1969 moon landings were fake. Education is the key - if we can instil greater political awareness from a young age then we can trust 16 & 17 year olds to make an informed decision.