BBC news really have reached a new level of dumbing down today.

[TheWaiting]

Switched on News 24. Reporter outside polling station has just explain that you put a cross next to the name of your preferred candidate and if they get the most votes they become an M.P and represent you in Parliament. 🤨 We then go back to Christian Fraser in the studio who proceeds with a segment titled, ‘How to vote’ 🙄🙄🙄
I honestly thought they were running a Newsround episode.

If you really hadn’t got the whole voting thing Hey Duggees covered it too with his election badge. I didn’t think it’d need to feature in baby programs but apparently the BBC know better.

I think it's a good thing. If even just one person is less intimidated by the process as a result of watching that slot, and decides to vote for the first time, that's positive for our democracy.

Not everyone knows how to vote. Don't see anything wrong with a simple education piece by the BBC 🤷‍♀️

But surely those people who really don’t have a clue aren’t watching News 24.

You have a point there.

Would have been more valuable having Ant and Dec walking them through it in words of one syllable on I'm a Celeb.

@Lllot5 No, hedgehogs don't generally have fleas. Some do, but most don't

Yes, we’ve always taken the kids and talked it through with them. I’m not being a snob at all , as I’ve just said, I’m genuinely surprised that people reach adulthood without an awareness of our political system.

I wasn’t taught in school but was raised that voting was important. If you don’t vote you can’t moan at the result was the old saying. We take the children along.

They have nothing else to report on clearly.

That amazes me. Me too! But I taught 16 - 19 year olds for a couple of decades and their interest reduced year on year. The referendum apparently had a significant effect!

Or so I am told by various local think tanks...

I don’t remember doing anything about it at school although this was years ago. I suppose if you didn’t learn about it at school and your parents never voted, you might not know much about it.

Well, you are being a snob OP. You’re looking down on people who you don’t think meet up to your educational standards.

DD aged 13 had mock elections today at school. Just collected her and have talked her through exactly how to vote, and shown her the polling card etc etc. I can imagine that if you didn't have either the school or your parents showing you then you could get to the age of 18 and not know how it all works.

And I cried at the old gentleman getting a tree this morning ….

Well tbf the first time I voted n 1992 ( I think) an ex boyfriend out a tick rather than a cross .

No, not looking down on anyone, just surprised that adults don’t know how to vote or that ‘the winner’ gets to be their MP.

Isn't this taught in schools anymore?

I didn’t realise it ever was?!

Are children allowed in with their parents nowadays? We were always made to wait outside on the pavement.

Surely it should be taught in all schools? And it’s part of parenting too, to ensure your child has a voice once they reach adulthood. They may choose not to use it but they certainly should understand how to if they wish. I honestly had no idea that so many people didn’t know the basics.

I didn’t realise it ever was?!

Yes, we had 'mock elections' in the 1980s. 5th years acting as 'candidates' for the various parties and the gym set up with polling booths.

Best 'news' story today is about Jimi Hendrix and the parakeets.

And yes, OP, YABU. We need people to get into the habit of voting, and if they've never done it before, it can feel intimidating - especially if they aren't 18 and freshfaced. It's extremely important to explain to people what will happen, what they need to do, that they don't need a polling card with them, how not to spoil the paper and so on. Frankly, I think that is the most important thing for all news and media outlets to be explaining today.

Yes, we had 'mock elections' in the 1980s. 5th years acting as 'candidates' for the various parties and the gym set up with polling booths.

That’s obviously very school-dependent then as we didn’t at mine.

Oh, and I think 'the winner gets to be your MP' thing is because of the refendum and the vote on PR before that. It's important to explain that parliamentary elections don't work like referenda and that you are voting specifically for your local MP.

Yes! I saw that too! V v patronising!

Mock election at DS(13)’s school. He was appalled that fellow students said they were voting for Boris because he was crazy and seemed like a laugh.

I pointed out that there are plenty of adults who apply similar criteria when casting their vote.

Ours certainly let children come in. Ds put the ballot in the box for me at one election and today my teenager had a chat with the clerking team while I voted.

i was completely gobsmacked at a couple of middleaged women in the queue (well ahead of me, not exactly a queue) asking what to do at the polling station this morning.
once they'd each gone in the booth and presumably made a cross on the paper, one went round waving it asking if she had to fold it to put it in the ballot box, the other then started stressing that she couldn't remember whether she'd folded hers or not.
I didn't look at her paper, but it did go thru my head at the time that The Monster Raving Loony party - yes, they stull exist! - will be one vote closer to not losing their deposit.

Radio 4's Today Progran was limper than between Christmas and New Year, spent ages discussing how to pronounce a horses; name - hourly!

It wasn't taught in my school in the 80s. I used to go with my parents when they voted, but if I hadn't it might have seemed mysterious. Not everyone has parents who will vote and can teach them.