1y ago

16 year olds should legally be allowed to vote in my opinion

Seriously it really grinds my gears that the Canadian government thinks that 16 years olds are mature and intelligent enough to drive a car, work a full-time job, pay taxes, apply for a passport, and are able to live independently on their own without a parent or guardian if they want to and get married with parent consent.

But when it comes to voting the Canadian thinks 16 year olds are not mature and intelligent enough to vote. Its completely ridiculous in my opinion.

37 comments

If you're paying taxes, you should have a say in where it's spent.
- Exactly it's completely fucking ridiculous that 16 years old are legally able to pay for taxes, drive a car. But can't legally be allowed to vote until they are 18.
  A 16 year old and 18 year old both have the same level of maturity. So if 18 years old are allowed to vote then I think 16 year old should also legally be allowed to vote.
  
  To be fair, some 15 year olds are just as mature as some 19 year olds. Are you saying 15 year olds should be able to buy smokes and drink? In Canada a 16 year old cannot drive a car without another licensed driver sitting beside them as well, so that's not a good comparison.
  Maybe 16 year olds should be tax-exempt until they are old enough to vote :)
  
  A 16 year old and 18 year old both have the same level of maturity
  Biologically this is not true. People's brains are still in development until the mid-20s
I don't think 16 year olds should really be driving cars, either. Most of them are irresponsible lunatics, in my experience. But they can learn to d'rive safely, and the earlier they start the faster they'll learn. Ideally they would be doing so in a simulator for the first few years. We should probably handle politics the same way - teach teenagers about the political process and help them get experience reasoning about political problems but without exposing others to the consequences of their errors until they're ready to fully participate.
- Well if you think 16 year shouldn't legally be allowed to drive a car then at least you logically consistent.
- I think 16 year olds should be legally allowed to drive with guardian supervision. I think they usually are able to.
  I think 16 year olds should be legally allowed to drink with guardian supervision. I think they usually are able to.
  I think 16 year olds should be legally allowed to smoke with guardian supervision. I think they usually are able to. 16 year olds can't buy them, but parents could give them. I can only think of one situation where parents should facilitate their 16 year olds smoking (as part of a smoking cessation plan).
  I think that if a guardian attests that their 16 year old is ready to vote, they should be allowed to.
  
  I think that if a guardian attests that their 16 year old is ready to vote, they should be allowed to.
  I feel that people who don't agree with the child's politics may not allow them to vote.
Yeah I am fine with it
When you get older you’ll realize how stupid people are so the age difference for voting is trivial
I think 18 is low enough. I don’t think most 16 year olds have enough life experience yet to make informed decisions about government and politics.
- I'll take that risk, having seen how most of the "wizened" people with life experience vote.
  
  Adults already fall prey to team politics, so it’s a bit of a weak argument—I know.
  I think it would still be interesting to get an official youth vote, even if it did not count, to quantify the issues as they see it.
- Well then I guess we can just agree to disagree because in my opinion I think most 16-year-old have enough life experience and are able to make informed decisions about the government and politics.
  And I also think that if a 16 year old commits a crime they should be charged as adult.
  
  I don't know what circles you grew up in but in my entire life I've met only a handful of teenagers who not only know what the fuck is actually going on but care enough to do something about it. I interact regularly with college students at a fairly respected and prestigious University and most of them have no fucking idea what is going on in the world or what needs to happen to make changes, how complicated things actually are, etc.
  One main reason why under 18 shouldn't vote is the concern that the adults around them will bully them into voting against their own beliefs and interests regardless of which side anyone may be on.
  I skimmed your history here and you sound like a kid who is feeling too big for their britches.
  
  I bring up life experience because most 16 year olds are starting to take a Civics class in high school and are balancing this out while discovering their own social identity. Do I think that young people, on average, make good decisions? Not necessarily, but I also think adults aren’t perfect decision makers either.
  I’ve since learned that political party members as young as 14 years old are allowed to vote in party leadership elections, so there is precedence in reducing the voting age minimum.
  If young people continue to show engagement in politics, however, I could see the conversation being taken more seriously and the voting age being reduced (to 16 or 17) before the end of the decade.
Europe votes in a couple of weeks. 16 year olds will have a vote for the first time.
- Wow that's great I'm so happy that 16-year-olds will be able to legally be allowed to vote for the first time in Europe.
  
  This reads like sarcasm. I think that if it turns out successful, it might set a precedent for other countries to follow.
Knowing myself and my high school at 16, I gotta disagree. I'm sure there are a good number of responsible 16yos out there, but there's a lot more that don't respect the gravity of what they're doing.
I would have absolutely voted for whoever was stupidest for the meme, as would many of my friends.
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Canadians don't even want proportional representation. Improving our democracy isn't important. So, I can't imagine they would support 16 year olds voting.
That shouldn’t be the age anywhere. If anything it needs to be raised.
- Honestly, 16 year olds have a better view on what's good for the planet than the average boomer. And I'm saying this as an older millennial.
  They have to live in this future, on average, longer. So why should it be raised?
  
  If anything the age should be lowered (in the sense that 60+ shouldn't really be able to anymore). I picked that age at random

37 comments