Should the voting age be lowered to 16?

norwegianwood

Just interested to see other people's opinions on this, I really think it should.
There are a lot of teenagers who are very politically aware, and they deserve to have a say in how the country is run

norwegianwood

norwegianwood wrote: »

Just interested to see other people's opinions on this, I really think it should.
There are a lot of teenagers who are very politically aware, and they deserve to have a say in how the country is run

It's true that there are a lot of politically aware 16 year olds. But, I doubt the vast majority of them are. Personally, I think it should be left at 18. 16, in general, is just too young. People are too immature.

Piste

GOD no! 16 is way too young, even 18 is pushing it a bit. Most 16 year olds wouldn't have a clue, and giving them the right to vote wouldn't encourage them to get more political, it would just mean more ill-informed decisions would be made.

eVeNtInE

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Insect Overlord

It's a very small minority of 16 year olds that actually have the political awareness to make such a move worthwhile. I had a chance to vote shortly after I turned 18 and, rather than being helped by the information in the public eye, I got quite confused about the whole thing. If hundreds of thousands of "competent" adults voted for the current system, imagine how things would be if an army of politically ignorant teenagers had a say! :eek:

eVeNtInE

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tolosenc

16?! Are ya kidding?!

As Piste said, 18 is pushing it - I know alot of people who were open to quite radical mind changing at that age who have since calmed down. Although I'm 19 and really like being able to vote, I'd still advocate raising the age back to 21.

SarcasticFairy

No way! Thinking of my year as a whole, there are about 6 people of 60 who would (possibly) know enough about politics to make an informed decision, and about 35 of them who would vote just for the laugh/just because they could. My year is relatively small, so I can only imagine the mess that would be made by all the people in the 16-18 bracket.

challengemaster

hahahhahahah. I wouldn't trust most 16 year olds (generally, Transition years) with a scissors or other sharp object. Nevermind voting.

p1akuw47h5r3it

I politically aware and I'm 16 but I don't know if I'd be bothered voting...

I think lowering the age would also drastically decrease the turnout per-cent

Crumble Froo

tbh, i dont think the idiot 16 year olds who you wouldnt trust with the system would actually be arsed to register *and* turn up on the day to vote.

Insect Overlord

Crumble Froo wrote: »

tbh, i dont think the idiot 16 year olds who you wouldnt trust with the system would actually be arsed to register *and* turn up on the day to vote.

Trouble is, the proportion of "idiots" to responsible, knowledgable would-be-voters is far greater. Damn, I just realised, that's probably true of most adults too. Hmmm...

giggsy664

I'm politicaly aware. And I'm 13. Yeah.

It wasn't me!

I don't know. I have mixed feelings about it. I mean, I don't know whether someone is ideologically developed enough at sixteen, or, for that matter, at eighteen, or thirty, to vote. I do know there's a huge difference in being sixteen versus eighteen, from a mental point of view, and perhaps the individual is typically more balanced at that stage. That said, we trust people of sixteen with some huge responsibilities, such as driving and the ability to license firearms. A system of graduated responsibilities, to my mind, doesn't make an enormous amount of sense (You can drive a potentially lethal automobile or own a gun, but you can't vote or buy beer?) but what we have at the moment works, and there's no impetus to change it.

SligoBrewer

challengemaster wrote: »

hahahhahahah. I wouldn't trust most 16 year olds (generally, Transition years) with a scissors or other sharp object. Nevermind voting.

QFT.

phasers

NO. Imo there should be a test on current events administered before anyone can vote, so many idiots... but Apparently that goes against this thing called "Democracy" :pac:

SligoBrewer

SligoBrewer wrote: »

QFT.

Quantum Field Theory?

Diabhal Beag

Why would you give the voting power to people like us who are more concerned about getting drunk and as hammered as possible.

In fairness that is not the wisest choice as nobody really gives a sh1te about politics at our age.

JC 2K3

It wasn't me! wrote: »

we trust people of sixteen with some huge responsibilities, such as driving and the ability to license firearms.

No we don't.....

eVeNtInE

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JC 2K3

Motorbikes/scooters are different though, and he specifically referred to "automobiles" later on in his post (which led me to wonder if he had been reading American writing on the subject).

I did not know that about firearms though. I'd imagine they'd be quite difficult to get a licence for in this country, however.

Killaqueen!!!

16 or 60 it doesnt matter, it depends on the person; the majority of Ireland doesn't have a ****ing clue about politics anyway so why shouldn't they lower the age to 16? If this is democracy than everybody should be able to vote. We don't cut off the age at 70 due to old senile fogies not being politically aware do we? So why should we limit the younger population because they're 'immature'. The immature ones probably wont bother to go and vote.

Most people under 18, nay most people under 21 wouldn't vote anyway. I would imagine most of the 16 year olds that would go to vote on the day would be educated enough to make an informed decision. 'Voting for the sake of having a giggle' is all well and good but are teenagers arsed to register and go and vote purposely while not having a clue? For the sake of a prank or something? I would imagine they could get their kicks elsewhere.

JC 2K3

So why not 14 then, Killaqueen!!!?

WoollyRedHat

For the sake of irony, shouldn't there really be an age restriction on this?

bythewoods

Nah, no way should the voting age get lowered.

Yes, I'm really interested in politics and would've liked to vote 2 years ago or w/e, but the vast vast majority couldn't care less!
They're ill informed.. I remember having a conversation with someone on the Lisbon Treaty way back when and hearing the likes of "Vote no or they're legalising abortion". I don't want to start a big debate on this, well, not much, but c'mon. Where did you hear this? The Star?

Plus, I JUST registered to vote. Now that I'm legal to do it I don't want the young'uns getting in.. I'd be jealous!

Insect Overlord

Killaqueen!!! wrote: »

Most people under 18, nay most people under 21 wouldn't vote anyway. I would imagine most of the 16 year olds that would go to vote on the day would be educated enough to make an informed decision. 'Voting for the sake of having a giggle' is all well and good but are teenagers arsed to register and go and vote purposely while not having a clue? For the sake of a prank or something? I would imagine they could get their kicks elsewhere.

If 16 year olds were given the vote, Louis Walsh would probably get a 3 series deal on RTÉ for "You're a TD!"and reel in the idiots that way.

cocoa

I don't see any huge difference in idiocy levels from 16-18 to 18+ to be honest, so I voted yes. I don't see such a change achieving anything positive though so really I don't care...

Also, a knowledge of current affairs / news headlines is secondary to politics. When I go to vote, I read party literature and try to find a brief unbiased history of the party. I don't go for newspaper articles or the (secondary) opinions of others. all too much of politics is bad rhetoric and bad logic, no one seems to remember / realise that it matters not who is right but what is right.

which would be why I don't pay attention to the media and / or politics if I can help it...

spoonbadger

-JammyDodger- wrote: »

It's true that there are a lot of politically aware 16 year olds. But, I doubt the vast majority of them are. Personally, I think it should be left at 18. 16, in general, is just too young. People are too immature.

True,many are too immature, and only some have any real concept of politics.But that's the same at all age levels .

The only foolproof way to do it would be to weed out and execute all the skangers, boyracers, Ra-heads and idiots in general....

....but if we did that, then we wouldnt have much of a government left .

Holsten

No way in hell should it be 16, it shouldn't even be 18.

21 is a good age for voting.

Nevyn

No taxation with out representation.

I think that if you can leave school and get a job and work then you should at 16 be able to vote.

rhapsody!

17 in my opinion. I think it's hilarious you're allowed to drive and have sex at seventeen but you can't drink or vote, makes no sense xD