Should 16 year olds be allowed to vote?

The Legal voting age in the UK is 18 years old. 

However, should the age limit be lowered to 16?

At 16 you can get a full-time job, join the armed forces, or even leave school, so should they be able to vote?

In the Brexit vote, 73% of all people under 24 voted to remain in the EU whereas the rest voted to stay out of the EU.

This was a record turnout for this age group and it shows that young people do want to have a say in this future country.

This is because they are the younger generation and they are the ones who are going to live the future and want it have the best environment they can get their hands on.

So, should they be able to vote?

The government “thinks” that young people lack the knowledge of politics or that 16-year-olds lack the maturity or life experience to vote.

But at this age, you can pay taxes and independently get medical treatment, so it does show that they aren`t immature but they are growing or have grown into mature young adults.

In schools, as a part of PSHCE, we are taught citizenship and why we should vote.

Nowadays 16-year-olds are aware of the things that happening around the world.

As they are more passionate about the world they live in.

So, should they be able to vote?

Having 16-year-olds being able to vote would make them more involved in politics and it would make them more engaged with their community on how the country should be run or who should run the country.

The current voting age was set in 1970s, which was 54 years ago, and now 16 years are more knowledgeable that age limit should change, in my opinion.

But when I am 16 years old should I be voting on the issues that do not affect our age group yet, but affect the 18+ age group?

You could argue that some of our rights at age 16 are limited as if you do join the army, you won`t be straight put into combat, as some of these rights need permission from parents.

It does make more sense to become adults and get the right to vote at the same time, and having a couple extra years to develop interests and political opinions would be a good thing.

But do 16-year-olds want to wait for their voices to be heard?

You could say that they are too innocent to be in a political atmosphere or that 16-year-olds would be represented by their friends or families.

They could be influenced by their ideas.

You could also be peer-pressured into voting in a particular way because voting that way is fashionable.

However, if the government catches us early now, we will become voters for life