Harry Hunt
A debate that seems to rear its head every few years has returned once again. Should we lower the voting age to 16? The answer is simple, and it has always been the same. NO, we absolutely should not.
This is coming from someone who has heavily helped campaign, volunteer and run events for a party leading up to an election, while still not being able to vote.
It’s frustrating, but that’s life.
In New Zealand, the age of 18 is heavily entwined with ‘coming of age’. They say life begins when you turn 18. We shouldn’t be trying to burden kids with adult decisions and problems before then. Today’s kids are so obsessed with becoming adults they forget how to live their lives as children. Maintaining innocence in young minds is important, but this is not the only reason why we should not lower the voting age.
Looking back, when you were 16, you would most likely have lived with your parents. Can you see a problem? We are raised in the image of those who made us, and align ourselves with their opinions until we are brave enough to forge our own. If we were to lower the voting age, what is the likelihood that most teenagers would be pressured into their parents’ ideals, or lobbied by them as they claim to know better?
The truth is, the human brain doesn’t stop developing until 25. 16-year-olds don’t care much for politics and would likely throw away their vote due to being unable to make an informed decision.
A common argument in support of lowering the voting age is that we would have a higher voter turnout. However, when the Scottish Independence referendum allowed younger voters in 2014, statistics showed that in the end, their overall turnout was about the median of all voters.
Some children exhibit delinquent behaviours and would support outrageous parties just to have a laugh with their friends. This is not a healthy thing to involve with politics. We are living in a world that is becoming so divided by people’s opinions that lowering the voting age could have a result in more division in schools, with children identifying themselves with whatever seems popular. I certainly know that when I was in college, many of my friends tried supporting parties like New Conservative, TOP and ACT, just based on one policy they liked. I had a friend who wanted to vote TOP just because Gareth Morgan wanted to be rid of cats.
Politics is an important issue and we all have a right to be heard but there is a time to be heard, and at an age when your voice becomes credible. 16 is not this age.
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