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Brexit
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Children can sign anti-Brexit petition

156 replies

CrushedVelvet · 22/03/2019 09:47

Those of you with children who feel strongly anti-Brexit may be interested to know that they may be allowed to sign the anti-Brexit petition that is currently going viral.

The rules state that you have to be a UK citizen or resident. You also have to have your own e-mail address, as obviously they want to ensure that individual people don't sign multiple times.

As this is a petition, not an official vote, you do NOT have to be on the electoral register. This means that children wishing to express their own views may sign - as may non-resident citizens and non-citizen residents.

According to the BBC, Andrea Leadsom said: "Should it reach 17.4 million respondents then I am sure there will be a very clear case for taking action" [see www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-47652071].

It is currently at over 2.6million.

I only realized that children could sign after my 11 year-old expressed anger and frustration that he could not sign. This prompted me to double-check the rules and discover that in fact he could, which he did with great enthusiasm this morning.

The link to sign the petition is:

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/241584

Personally, I feel that the country should pause at this point and have a proper second referendum in case the prevailing view has changed in the past 3 years. Most people have a lot clearer idea of what Brexit entails now than they did in 2016. For example, I don't recall any mention of the Irish border issue then. I do remember prominent claims about all the extra money Brexit would bring to the UK, which have since been revealed to be blatant lies. Instead we face a damaged economy and trouble staffing the NHS.

If you or your friends/family are eligible and feel strongly about this, please sign the petition! Thank you.

OP posts:
purpleboy · 25/03/2019 15:06

Most of your 'children' are not old enough to understand the facts or what they are even petitioning for. They are just little sheep who you are manipulating in order to make mummy and daddy happy.
Not great parenting is it really?

TalkinPaece · 25/03/2019 15:08

purpleboy
Most of your 'children' are not old enough to understand the facts or what they are even petitioning for. They are just little sheep who you are manipulating in order to make mummy and daddy happy.
Bit like religion and religious schools really

Strawbyog · 25/03/2019 15:19

My children (and they are definitely children, not sure why you put that in inverted commas, purpleboy) have a basic grasp of the importance of EU membership. They understand much of what it will mean to leave because it is directly relevant to our family.

Do they have a deep and complex understanding of the UK economy, of our political system and of the treaties and institutions of the EU? Well, no. But I'd politely suggest that the same is true of large numbers of people of voting age.

MockerstheFeManist · 25/03/2019 15:35

If Leave voters had to show an understanding of the facts before they were allowed near a stubby pencil on a string, you wonder how that might have affected the result.

purpleboy · 25/03/2019 15:36

Sure, I don't advocate those either! Children should be able to make their own minds up, not have the view of their parents forced down their throat at every opportunity.
Children are individuals and should be treated as such.

DioneTheDiabolist · 25/03/2019 15:44

Most of your 'children' are not old enough to understand the facts or what they are even petitioning for.
My DS is a child and he understands because he knows that there was a war that was stopped by the GFA which is at risk. He watches the news and asks questions of the people around him. And , oh yeah, his mum lost her job.Hmm

Children are individuals and should be treated as such.

Then stop calling them "sheep".

Strawbyog · 25/03/2019 15:59

My children have made up their own minds. As I said previously, they can see the effects that Brexit will have on individual members of our family. It's pretty normal for kids to be influenced by their parents, I'm amazed you find this odd. I am 42 and my politics don't differ wildly from the views that my own parents held.

AChickenCalledKorma · 25/03/2019 16:44

They are just little sheep who you are manipulating in order to make mummy and daddy happy.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

I can't tell you how much easier my life would be if this was possible. I can only assume you haven't met too many opinionated teenagers.

purpleboy · 25/03/2019 18:07

Dione I'm sorry to hear you lost your job, truly I am. There are so many things discussed regarding our future, but no one knows what will actually happen, sure there are predictions, but predictions are just that, they are not fact. Some will be right, some won't and some may come somewhere in between. The country is scared, I understand why but I also think these issues are far to complex for a child to understand. I don't think it's ok to tell your children half a story, it will be your version and it's just pedalling your own agenda rather than giving them the full complex situation and allowing them to make their own mind up, the reason this cannot be done is they are children and not capable of fully understanding the implications on both sides. This is what I don't agree with. If your children are not old enough to understand the full facts of the situation then they should be guided to put their name on something they don't understand.

I put it in inverted commas because children range from birth to 18 those aged 8 do not have the same understanding as a 17yo, I didn't want to group them all into the same category. Apologies for any offence caused. And I would agree with you about the voters, everyone should of done their research before casting their vote. It's not so much that I find it odd, just that I don't think it's right. My parents did the same, while growing up, we only heard one side of the argument. Thankfully I took it upon myself to find out the other half and made my mind up accordingly. I think children should be encouraged to think for themselves.

Chicken yes I do know several teenagers including my own who are all taught to research and find out the fact for themselves and come to their own conclusion. I think it's great to hear that you too have an opinionated one who can decide for themselves. Well done to you.

Strawbyog · 25/03/2019 18:16

I'm afraid I will respectfully disagree with you on that. We are all products of our upbringing. I cannot present the other side of the argument on brexit because I am at a loss to understand it. I can't tell.my kids that they might like to consider the fact that we have too many foreigners here, for the sake of balance, as that would go against everything I believe in. We are also atheists - do you think I should sit down with my kids and list all the reasons why they might be interested in following one of the world's religions? (Rhetorical question, no answer needed).

havingtochangeusernameagain · 25/03/2019 18:21

How is it that Scottish 16 and 17 year olds were considered informed enough to vote on the indyref but not in the EU ref (along with all British 16 and 17 year olds).

As for balance, my husband is a soft remainer. He doesn't like the EU, wouldn't take advantage of freedom of movement other than for holidays, and only really voted remain because he is conservative with a small c and will vote for the status quo and economic stability. As a result, he is less of a remainer than I am and so our son does get more than one viewpoint. In any case, although I am firmly in favour of the UK staying in the EU, I can see there are some nasty characters in the EU (as there are anywhere) and there are a few minor upsides of leaving (as long as we leave with a deal).

ThisThatAndTother · 25/03/2019 19:26

My dts (12) have signed it 👍

AnnaNutherThing · 25/03/2019 19:27

My mum was not interested in organised religion but set us off to Sunday school to give the church a chances at us!

She was brilliant at bringing us up to be open minded to the best of her ability. It STILL took me thirty years to shake off her influence in politics.

(She's a "they have tried true socialism" believer. It's only through reading plenty of first hand accounts of various revolutions and their murderous follow-on regimes that I have shaken off belief in HER fairy tales.)

AnnaNutherThing · 25/03/2019 19:28

I just can't get with parents using their kids as extensions of themselves.

TalkinPaece · 25/03/2019 19:31

What about secondary school children with their own views of how adults are dealing with Climate change etc
or teenagers with their own choice in music

kids old enough to have access to an email account are old enough to look up the facts themselves

pointythings · 25/03/2019 19:35

Anna it is perfectly possible to raise politically aware teenagers. Even teenagers you disagree with - I do not agree with my DDs on everything. At what age do we consider young people old enough to sign this petition then? What constitutes informed enough to vote in a referendum? If your child agrees with you politically, does that automatically mean they are an extension of you, or does it perhaps mean that you have a shared and reasonable point of view?

AnnaNutherThing · 25/03/2019 19:36

I'm not for banning anyone participating!

Each to his own.

ThisThatAndTother · 25/03/2019 19:39

My dcs found the petition and took it upon themselves to sign it, as they don't want their Country tucked 😾

ThisThatAndTother · 25/03/2019 19:40

Or fucked!

AnnaNutherThing · 25/03/2019 19:43

Pointy I'm telling how I feel in relation to my children and how my mum treated politics and belief with me. Other people will make different choices, fair enough.

My post was in response to that of Strawbyog.
So Yes, my mum did give other belief systems a crack at us. One of Her greatest strengths as a parent was the ability to let us make our own mistakes. (I find it a bit more challenging than she did ! Maybe I'm posting to myself really..)

lboogy · 25/03/2019 20:18

What a ridiculous suggestion. Children don't know anything besides what their parents tell them. I grew up with a politically engaged parent so I was a far left teenager because of the influence my parents had. As an adult I'm more moderate.

Children singing the petition is just an extension of their parents vote. As someone said earlier we might as well just let pregnant women have two signatures on the petition

pointythings · 25/03/2019 20:22

Children don't know anything besides what their parents tell them.

Bollocks. As they enter their teens, they learn things their parents never did, and if mine are anything to go by they certainly don't follow their parents slavishly. If children don't know anything besides what their parents tell them, then their parents are failing to teach them some really essential life skills: research and rebellion.

TalkinPaece · 25/03/2019 20:27

Children don't know anything besides what their parents tell them.
How au fait are you with reddit and snapchat and periscope and the recesses of pinterest
of course teenagers have their own views

Langrish · 25/03/2019 20:27

“CabbageHippy

how ridiculous - so a child too young to write it's own name can make a decision about the EU?”

An elderly person (or anyone for that matter) who has lost capacity retains the right to vote if someone takes them to the polling station. Wide open to coercion. How is that different?

Langrish · 25/03/2019 20:30

“Children don't know anything besides what their parents tell them.”

Just not so. Ours had formed strong, independent opinions about a whole range of issues certainly by Year 6. We disagreed about many things.