Why would anyone think 16 year-olds should be allowed to vote?

[MsAmerica]

Be honest - think back to when you were 16. Did you have an understanding of a broad range of issues? Did you pay serious attention to national news? Okay, even many adults may lapse on the score, but still, it seems crazy to me.

In the U.S., voting age had been 21 and the only reason it was lowered to 18 was that teens were being drafted to fight in Vietnam, and it was felt as unfair for them to have no say.

Driving seems to be an anomaly presumably for historical reasons and also if you get your provisional at 17 you might be nearer 18 when you've passed your test (assuming you can get a test!). Most activities like tattoos etc you need to be 18. So yes if you are giving children the responsibility of voting then you need to lower the age of adulthood to 16 and all the things that come with that. Eg being able to legally own property.

There’s plenty of middle aged voters who don’t understand anything political - yet they’re allowed to. There’s a reason that intelligence and education trends lower with certain demographics and voters (reform, cough)

I mean it is literally true. Whether or not anyone checks is a different matter but legally they should be in education/training until 18.

Oh stop with the snobbery. You just make yourself look stupid and dare I say, not very bright yourself.

I think the value in this would be teachers encouraging children to vote, by explaining how it works, how to register, why it's important etc. As a PP said, giving young people a stake in the future of the country at an earlier age gives them a sense of responsibility and improves their participation in the democratic process. In Scotland this has been shown to have a positive impact on voter turnout among young adults.

I don't for one moment believe that the average 16 year old is going to say to themselves, "I'd better vote Labour because Mrs Parker told me to."

No they don't.
Go on the government website and look.

For the simple reason that the Labour party thinks this will gain them votes. That's the only reason. Sixteen year olds aren't going to be affected by the high taxes Labour are proposing to cover their refusal to address the ever expanding benefit costs.

Reform know how to play the media/social media game though. A handful of MPs, no policies, dubious “facts” (though not alone there) and look at the airtime and column inches they get.

Why would you need to change the driving age? It isn't currently aligned with the voting age in any case?

Yes they can

You can leave school on the last Friday in June if you’ll be 16 by the end of the summer holidays.You must then do one of the following until you’re 18:
Stay in FT education
Start an apprenticeship
Spend 20 hours or more a week working or volunteering, while in part-time education or training

Literally, they have to be in education or training. As I said.

No they can't in England. RPA = education/training until 18

The third choice.
All jobs will require training so technically a 16 can work full time while recieving on the job training - the same as if they were a 26 year old new employee.
If a 16 or 17 year old is working full time then they are not a NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training) which it what the government wants.
(picture incoming...)

20 hours isn't FT employment cos they have to still receive part time education or training at the same time.

I work in the sector, I know what RPA is thanks.

@twistyizzy basically the rule doesn't define "training" so if a 16/17 year old is working full time in a legit job that's following the correct age related restrictions no "law" is being broken.

No, I don’t think that. My point is that I can’t get worked up about 16 year olds being too immature or ill-informed to vote when the same is true of great swathes of the adult population.

I don’t see a big issue with 16 year olds voting as I can’t perceive any great difference between their grasp on current affairs and that of older adults.

"20 hours OR MORE".
So full time if they want.

Exactly this! It's so incredibly cynical.

Don't get me wrong, I was incredibly left wing and idealistic at 16. It was easy to be because ultimately I didn't have to pay for any of it and often would be a beneficiary of any public money spent. it has been proven time and time again that we tend to become more right wing and cynical as we age and experience more of life. I've seen countless threads on MN lately expressing this exact sentiment as the squeezed middle who previously would have voted Labour are now struggling to afford basic things for themselves. Suddenly they start to question of the welfare bill is sustainable and whether we can just tax people into oblivion.

I definitely agree with you that teachers need to teach students the way politics and government work in this country. They also should explain in a balanced way what each party represents and encourage kids to do their own research. They need to teach how vulnerable democracy is and how susceptible people are to propaganda.

Unfortunately I can see left wing teachers being unable to resist revealing their own bias and being disparaging about political parties they don't agree with themselves, however subtle.

@twistyizzy What's "RPA" though?
I googled it and there loads of definitions.

They might try, but since when do young people do as their teachers tell them to? If anything it's more likely to have the opposite effect.

It might be more SM and peers that impact views.

I think if that gets young people engaging with politics it is a positive thing.

My DC said he'll just ask me who I vote for and go with that. Which i find sort of sweet tbh.

So that'll be an extra spoiled ballot I guess!!

DD23 just said she thinks it's appalling if her 16 year old self, and any of her friends, were allowed to vote. None of them had sufficient life experience. They were all pretty intelligent, switched in girls, but still pushed and pulled by the whims of friendship groups, unable to see others point if view, unable to see nuance in debate. Now you could say that of many adults, but if you are going to gave a cut off, I think many people would think a 16 year old too young to have developed a good sense of reason.