16-Year-Olds Being Able to Vote

[JustAnotherGay]

Under plans unveiled recently about Scotland becoming Independent, the Scottish Government have said that in the referendum (election) 16-year-olds will be given the chance to vote.
What do you think of 16-year-olds being given the chance to vote? Are they mature enough for such a serious issue?

[TheBigUnit]

no, 18 is a good age, if you see some of the sophmores in my school you will understand,

[Φρανκομβριτ]

I believe some 16 year olds are mature enough to vote, but sadly not the maturity.

With that being said, the amount of youthes 18 + who don't vote is shocking, so I don't even know if it would make a huge difference.

Good luck with your refferendum! Our province will be having one shortly no doubt!

[nice]

No I'm 14 and I'm mature than some 16 year olds even when I'm being goofy it's not a good idea they need to get rid of this idea like right now.

[Jean Poutine]

Age is just a number. Maturity varies, and setting an age limit is an imperfect way of dealing with the fact that a lot of youth shouldn't be allowed to vote but some should. Some adults should not be allowed to vote either. Until we develop a brain scanner to figure out how mature, knowledgeable and responsible somebody is in 30 seconds, age is the only benchmark we've got.

The frontal lobe, the part that govern decision making, is fully developed only around age 20-25. Mine probably is fully done shaping itself now, but the first time I ever voted, it wasn't (and I'm going to blame this on the fact I voted Conservative). If you're going by an age criterion, it might actually be better not to lower it, but to raise it back to 21, where people are more likely to have a greater capacity to make enlightened decisions (and not vote because a certain candidate is cute /Jean-Martin Aussant).

The problem is, you've got mature 16 year olds wanting the right to vote, but then you'll have mature 14s, mature 12s...it just doesn't stop, especially with how much information this generation has access to if they so choose. It doesn't change the fact that a mature 12 year old will never be as mature as somebody my age, and no matter how informed they are, they are still unadapted to such a heavy burden. Such is also the case with 16 year olds. I thought I was mature at 16, but looking back, I really wasn't. My personality, ideas and convinctions were still shaping themselves and I was liable to make terrible decisions. 85% of 16 year olds are like this. They're smack in the middle of puberty. You can't expect this to treat this amazing responsibility with the respect it deserves.

In the end, it doesn't matter. 2 years' difference means 16 year olds lose one election at most. Salmond is doing this probably because support for independance is highest amongst youth.

[MisterSix]

I'm sure it will turn into a 'whos got the most flashy, cratoony campaign ad'. But that sounds much better than 'who can dig up the most dirt on the opposition campaign'

[Manjusri]

No, i don't think 16 year olds should have the right to vote.

The majority of 18 year olds who have the right to vote don't know enough about politics as it is.

[horizonlooker]

I think 16 is too young. I think 16 is too young to drive as well (in the US you can drive then). Granted there are some 16 year olds who are mature enough, and would be able to vote, do they really KNOW what all of those political terms mean? Could they really vote for something based on their OWN opinion and not having to ask others for help?
Me, personally, being 17, I don't even feel ready to vote. I'm happy I'm not going to be 18 for this upcoming Presidential Election we're having.

[Gigablue]

I think sixteen is too young. If anything, the voting age should be raised. Brain development isn't really complete until about the age of 22-25. Until then, people don't really make rational decisions, and shouldn't be able to vote. Even above that age, people still make bad decisions. Lowering the voting age would, in my opinion, be a mistake.

[Charles Finley]

I don't think anyone should have the right to vote without a high-school diploma, GED, or equivalent.

[Danny_boi 16]

No I'm 14 and I'm mature than some 16 year olds even when I'm being goofy it's not a good idea they need to get rid of this idea like right now.

I agree. Some people are mature enough, but not the whole. Therefore, it is too dangerous to put that much power( yes voting is an extreme power) into the hand of a 16 year old. Just because some are mature, doesn't mean the majority will follow. And Democracy is always in the hands of the majority.

[PerpetualImperfexion]

Honestly, the ones that aren't mature enough probably won't vote. But the ones that are mature and actually give two shits about the world around them, probably will. Over-all I see no problems with it.

[Twilly F. Sniper]

No. never.

[Pierce]

I believe lowering the age requirement to vote might actually turn immature 16 year olds into a little less immature 16 year olds =p. But seriously i believe lowering the age requirement to vote might make 16 year olds feel more responsible and mature and take it upon themselves to learn more about the candidates and want to vote. Or it might be the total opposite and have a bunch of children voting for the "coolest" candidate. I know here in America it wouldn't work.

[Zenos]

Look to America to see the results of youth voting is what my dad said when it comes to the preisdent we currently have.

Which is true i remeber hearing lots fo 18-23 year olds talking about how cool it would be to vote the first Black president into office,or they where voting for Obamma because he was cool,and now that i'm a bit older I realize soemthing not a one of them where worried about the platform/polices Obama was running on,just that he was cool or it would be cool to vote in a black president..both of which are not good resaons to vote,what their policies are is whats important

[Zenos]

I believe lowering the age requirement to vote might actually turn immature 16 year olds into a little less immature 16 year olds =p. But seriously i believe lowering the age requirement to vote might make 16 year olds feel more responsible and mature and take it upon themselves to learn more about the candidates and want to vote. Or it might be the total opposite and have a bunch of children voting for the "coolest" candidate. I know here in America it wouldn't work.

I disagree because America is full of immaturew 18-19 year olds the ability to vote is not the right way to try to make a person mature a bit!


Why? most of us youth are too blasted IMMPRESSIONABLE and will not worry about the persons policies they will run on.

[Syvelocin]

Should be an academic excellence privilege or something.

I'm all-for lowering any sort of age requirement but there are some really stupid sixteen year-olds. I would have loved to vote at sixteen though.

But, you know, if a kid is still immature at sixteen, I'll bet 70% of the time they're still immature two years later. That really doesn't go away until maybe 25, unless you were one of the lucky ones born mature of course. Then you've always been mature.

[Sugaree]

Maturity shouldn't be measured by age, which is why I think there shouldn't be laws saying you must be X years old to vote. However, it's almost impossible to have a 16 year old be mature enough to make a decision like this. Voting is a responsibility, not just a right; you're deciding the future. If someone is mature enough to know who they're voting for, why they're voting that way, and how they feel that can make a difference, by all means let them vote. But having immature 16 year olds, and there's TONS of them, vote is just fucking frightening.