Should 16 year olds be given the vote?

If 16-year-olds are classed as adults, then why shouldn’t they have any input into who governs the country? With the rise in university fees and the changes to A-Levels, we are affected just as much as everyone else. However, I am seventeen and if I was allowed to vote this year, I would probably just vote for who my parents voted for and this isn’t the point. People are supposed to vote for who they think would do the best job running the country, but although I have seen a leaders debate or two, I can’t say that I know what they’re talking about half the time. I can honestly say that I don’t know the differences between all the parties and what they have to offer to our society. The media tells us about the political leaders – but how much of it can we trust?

On the other hand, think of all the other things we can do when we’re sixteen. We can get married, join the armed forces and pay tax among many other things yet we aren’t allowed to place our vote in the ballot box. They expect us to be able to cope with A-Levels that are getting increasingly more difficult every year, but we can’t make on decision about the country that we live in. Did you know, an average student today has the same anxiety levels as the average psychiatric patient in the early 1950s? We can deal with whatever schools throw at us, yet we aren’t mature enough to make this one choice. I believe that students should be taught about the elections as part of the academic curriculum. Politicians want the younger vote yet only 44% of 18-24 year olds voted in the last election. Let us make educated votes and be more independent by giving us more information in secondary school and you will probably find that most of us will vote. 

Think of it another way, whether we realise it or not, with every subject we choose to take, we as students are shaping the rest of our lives. We make decisions on a daily basis that impact us later on, which shows how mature we are when we are able to cope with it. Give us the opportunity to make our voices heard by the politicians.