Younger people’s views beyond March 2019.

In fact there was a very interesting discussion on Radio 4 a few weeks ago debating whether the voting age should go back to 21 now that barely any 18 year olds have the sort of stake in life that they had at the time they were given the vote. It was enlightening and I ended up agreeing that the voting age should go back to 21.

Ridiculous ,,how can you turn the clock back by changing the voting age ? Young people are much more switched on nowadays ,they wont stand for having their rights removed and why should they.They can work ,pay tax ,get married all at 16 ...and not be able to vote for 5 more years !! Cant see that happening,at least I HOPE that wont happen its clearly wrong

An interesting question, particularly as it is being argued that the jihadi 'bride' who wants to come back here was too young at 15 (nearly 16) to know her own mind.

They can work ,pay tax ,get married all at 16
But not purchase alcohol until 18
The age at which children are allowed to take on adult responsibilities, are allowed to do certain activities, seems variable. Should it all be standardised?

You have to have parental consent in England and Wales to marry at 16 I believe.

You must be 18 to purchase tobacco.

You must be 18 to vote.

The question of whether or not 16 year old should vote because of Brexit is a one sided argument.

The question is should 16 year old be able to vote full stop.

I thought that nowadays you had to be in education or an apprenticeship until you were 18? Maybe got that wrong, my gc are not that old yet. If that is the case I think the age should remain 18 and I don't think it would be fair to change it for a vote on whether to leave the EU or not even though I think it is wrong to leave the EU. I do think that Brits living and working in the EU should have a vote though.

I'm in two minds about giving the vote at 16. It does seem so very young. But as far as the referendum was concerned I think it would have been right as it is, as MOnica says, very relevant to their futures and they may not get another chance for years. But keep it at 18 for everything else, if only because voting opportunities in general and local elections come every few years.

When the voting age was 21, in our youth, wasn't the school leaving age 14? At which age children could be in a job and earning.

Yes, that was the opening point of the argument on the radio, Maizie - at that time a 21 year old was likely to be married, often have children, be in employment - now they (18 year olds) are all still at school or college so have no financial stake in what they are voting for - it was interesting hearing the statistics.

You've always been able to marry without consent at 16 in Scotland .The vote should be for 16 year olds .In my job I've known a lot of 16 year olds who were married ,a few who got married the day after they left school.Most are still together some for well over 30 years .I knwo I was perfectly capable of making a decision about who to vote for at 16 and all the young people I know are politically aware

I disagree completely paddyann - my friends and I have often discussed the 'infantilisation' of young teenagers. While on some level they seem 'mature', we were travelling up to London to work at their age whilst their parents just about let them get on the local bus. People I have worked with who were sent on courses have had to take their mum because they had never been on a train alone etc.

What you describe as 'infantilism' Beau idoesn't mean that young people don't have ideas about how they would like the country to be run.

I think you might be suffering from the 'young people today aren't what they were in my day' syndrome.

You can start work at 16.

young people are far more switched on to todays and tomorrows issues than most were in the 60's when I was at school.I was a rarity that was involved in politics before I was at high school ,now its normal for young people of that age and much younger to know whats happening around them AND for them to want action on it.Witness the small "strike" gathering today about glbal warming and the many local groups who because they were on half term decided to do clear ups on local beaches.I'm talking about young people from age 8 upwards .

we do claim to have the most politically aware youngsters in Europe so maybe ours are different from those south of the border

I was interested in politics and current affairs from the age of 4, I was reading the political column in the Children's Newspaper at 6. but I do not think I was old enough and experienced enough to vote at 16. I did not think it then, I do not think it now.

When I hear young people talk about older people having no investment in the future because they will not be here. It just proves to me how naive they are. Most of us have children and grandchildren and we desperately want them to have every opportunity to make good lives for themselves in a thriving country. We may not be here in 20, 30, 40 years time, but they will be and that means everything to us.

Good post MOnica.

Do we really want our teenagers worrying about what life will be like in fifty years time? I want my sixteen year old grandson to be excited about going to college. I want him to have fun, to laugh and sing. They have enough problems worrying about who will fancy them, what clothes to wear and passing exams. Let them have that time. We are the ones who should be worrying about what life will be for them in fifty years time. We should not try to pass the buck onto our grandchildren. WE must sort it out for them.

Young people have to be in education or training until 18. They cannot leave school and get a job at 16 unless they become apprentices.

The argument that ‘they have no financial stake in what they are voting for’ was one of the reasons given for not giving the vote to men without property, and women, and the first Act that enfranchised some women in 1918 still included a property qualification, which wasn’t removed till 1928.

Ironic that we have one poster complaining about young people being infantilised and another one supporting infantilisation.

Good post MOnica of course we had our families in mind when we voted. Do they think older people are completely selfish. I agree with standardizing the age for everything and think it should be 18. There are great variations in the level of maturity of course.

I think I only grew up when I moved away from home. Whilst living with parents it can be difficult to see the wider picture and if I had been allowed the vote at 16 I think I would have voted as my parents did. Later I voted for one party, toyed with another and then settled for several years on another. Now, with all my years of experience and being a news junkie, I have no idea which party to support. A plague on all their houses.

I agree with you susantrubey. The teens are a time to strike out and make your own choices but it is a time to make wrong decisions and learn from them without there being too many consequences.

The current school leaving age is 18, unless you have an apprenticeship or are at college, and has been for several years.
This was a political decision to keep unemployment figures down with no national initiatives as to what the students would be doing in these extra years. I am surprised that you can still be at school and married for several years, but it's possible.
As with adults, some teenagers are politically aware, and very clued-up, others aren't. It's their future.

When are people going to understand that one man equals one vote. We voted out and that’s an end of it. It’s called democracy not keep voting until you get the answer you want