The Student Room Group

Should the voting age be lowered to 16?

I think it should. After all, the youth is the future of this country, we should have a say in our future rather than letting everyone else decide it for us.

What is your opinion and why?

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Reply 1
Probs not I didn't even know what voting was back then :P
Original post by Cod3tte
I think it should. After all, the youth is the future of this country


Why have an age limit at all? 2 year olds will also be the future.

Spoiler

In order to push through such a reform, enough 16 and 17yos should be campaigning for it. Don't listen to the politicians who want the voting age lowered, they only push for this reform in order to capture the votes of said demographic...
Reply 4
Original post by EierVonSatan
Why have an age limit at all? 2 year olds will also be the future.

Spoiler




16 year olds are old enough to understand the concept of voting and democracy, a two year old is clearly not.
Reply 5
No, shouldn't even be allowed to have sex. Age of consent should be 18. Under 18s can't vote, drink alcohol, buy cigarettes and can't be interviewed by Police alone.
Original post by Cod3tte
16 year olds are old enough to understand the concept of voting and democracy, a two year old is clearly not.


Ah, so you think a 14 year old who does understand these concepts should also be allowed to vote?
Reply 7
Original post by EierVonSatan
Ah, so you think a 14 year old who does understand these concepts should also be allowed to vote?


At 14, you are still a child.

At 16 you are considered a young adult, so why shouldn't you be allowed to vote?
Original post by Cod3tte
At 14, you are still a child.

At 16 you are considered a young adult, so why shouldn't you be allowed to vote?


Many would argue (and is de facto legally) that 16 is still a child.

However, what I'm really trying to get at here is no fair and correct answer/solution. I know very well that there are 16 year olds (and younger) who are much more informed about politics and have their own independent minds than some of those at 18 years of age.

There has to be some compromise based on general patterns, many people at 16 (not all) are still very much guided by their parents views and not their own thoughts and experiences.
(edited 6 years ago)
Original post by Cod3tte
I think it should. After all, the youth is the future of this country, we should have a say in our future rather than letting everyone else decide it for us.

What is your opinion and why?


Hi Cod3tte, I've moved your thread to the UK Politics section, I think that's a more relevant section for this thread :smile:
YES! There is no reason to not lower the voting age
I’m from the Channel Islands, where we can vote at 16. It works wonderfully. The people that want to vote can, and those who don’t want to are not looked down upon for not voting because they might not have matured enough. Everyone becomes happy.
Yep, i would like the majority of us from the age of maybe 16 to vote. It seems a very good opportunity if we can.16 is overall the young adults age so i don't see the reason why not.:smile:
Original post by Cod3tte
I think it should. After all, the youth is the future of this country, we should have a say in our future rather than letting everyone else decide it for us.

What is your opinion and why?

You should probably get a petition together!?
No, it would be a horrible idea, and I'm 16
Reply 15
Original post by Cod3tte
I think it should. After all, the youth is the future of this country, we should have a say in our future rather than letting everyone else decide it for us.

What is your opinion and why?


The voting age shouldn't be lowered, I see much less 16 year olds than 18 year olds have an unbiased, informed opinion that isn't just based on what parents, friends, and schools tell them, however, this isn't the sole reason I hold this opinion, since so far, it's just observation.
I'm a 16 year old doing Politics and History as A Levels, but I wouldn't give 16 year olds the vote. Not because they're uneducated (I know many people my age that seem smarter than our MPs...) but because it's ultimately irrelevant. If you care about an issue, the least effective method of campaigning for that issue is voting, because your vote will rarely make a difference to the government that is formed. If you care about an issue, join a pressure group, write to your MP, lobby the government, go on a protest march etc. This is what will actually cause change.

Add on to this, all the arguments that have been mentioned previously: You only have to wait 2 years till you're 18; where does it stop (14 year olds having the vote?). There are so many more pressing issues at the moment, and allowing 16 year olds to vote in 2022 (probably 2018 tho :biggrin:) isn't important right now.

I'd advocate rather that we give prisoners the vote instead (although I fear that i've opened up a new can of worms here...)
(edited 6 years ago)
Original post by jdddd
No, shouldn't even be allowed to have sex. Age of consent should be 18. Under 18s can't vote, drink alcohol, buy cigarettes and can't be interviewed by Police alone.


Edit: Nevermind, didn't read your comment properly.
(edited 6 years ago)
I personally wouldn't want 16 year olds to get the vote, but I wouldn't mind either way tbh. Although, the amount of uneducated 16 year old voters who simply vote based of an article they read the title of scares me if they were to be allowed.
(edited 6 years ago)
Many 16 year olds can be easily influenced by their teachers/parents.

If the voting age gets lowered, then why not lower it to 14.. then 12.. then 10... (see where I am going)

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