Photo by Edmond Dantès:
“It makes absolutely no sense to be bringing the age down two years… young adults wouldn’t have a clue who they would be voting for and wouldn’t understand the true concept of it all.”
“People that young don’t understand what goes on around them and don’t care enough about their town to provide a response that is mature.”
They are not the words of veteran voters – they are two of the comments penned by Cambridge High School students over the move to reduce the voting – and standing – age for local body elections from 18 to 16.
Labour has introduced the bill – it has support now, but may not after the general election.
The News invited Cambridge High School to survey their senior students on the issue – and the results were surprising.
Having been effectively offered something for nothing, 39 out of 57 students said they did not think the voting age should drop.
Eleven said it should, seven fell into the maybe camp.
The results follow a similar survey of politicians by The News – and the results then suggested changing the local body qualification age would be welcomed.
Pushed further and asked if young people care enough about their town to vote, 29 students said no, 20 said maybe and eight said yes.
But despite the negative response – and an admission by many that 16 and 17 year olds were not mature enough, or too busy, to vote – many of the students’ comments suggested they could make a valuable contribution.
“I think many young adults don’t vote as they have simply never done it before and don’t understand the process…” one student suggested.
“I also understand that there is a worry that if the voting age is lowered then the “children” who are voting will have a massive impact and completely change the outcome of our local election, however at the end of the day it won’t actually have a massive impact and the younger voters will still be outnumbered, just there will be more voices giving their opinion.”
But among those who did not see the value of changing the voting age one noted “I cannot see many going out of their way to care about a town that many won’t be living in within the next couple of years”.
Some students suggested youngsters would simply vote the same way as their parents and that 16 and 17 year olds already had enough going on in their lives.
Others did not know enough about the local body system, and one noted it was not taught at school
“I don’t know too much about the government and what the different councils are,” one aid.
It could be argued that is not a shortcoming limited to the under 18s.
We Say
The News thanks Cambridge High School deputy principal Carol Webb for assisting in organising the survey and compiling the comments of students. It is a survey that has produced interesting – and we think unexpected – results. That 59 students took time to answer a series of questions and all produce thoughtful responses augurs well for the success of a bill which is almost certain to be passed.
Youngsters who are 12 today could be voting at the 2028 local body polls. They will eventually find themselves on a steep learning curve. Teenagers at Cambridge High spoke of the importance of making information available. Regardless of if and when the age does come down, schools could play a vital role in informing their students about their own political landscapes.
