What teenagers think about being able to vote at 16 ...Middle East

On Thursday, the Government announced plans to lower the voting age to 16 at the next election. It constitutes the biggest change to the electoral system since 1969, when the age was dropped to 18 from 21.

In addition to questions around which parties might benefit or lose out from the change, there has been much debate over whether 16 and 17 year-olds are old enough and informed enough to have a say in deciding who should form the next government.

We asked three teenagers to give their perspective on whether the change will be good for democracy, and how they feel about the voting age being lowered.

‘It would be really awesome if it was added to the schooling system and talked about more in school,’ says Pascalle Durand

When I heard the voting age was going to be lowered, initially I thought: “Wow – that’s quite exciting.”

But the more I’ve been thinking about it and talking to my friends and mum about it, I’ve thought this is quite dystopian – lowering the voting age to kids that have just finished high school, it feels almost threatening.

I’ve had conversations with my peers about what we’re going to do after sixth form and that’s a hectic conversation – let alone the future of our country.

It would mean me and my friends going to our town hall and voting when we’ve just finished writing our exams, our GCSEs, where we would have to wear a uniform every day and have lessons at the the same time every day. You go from a sense of, “You’re a child and you’ll be treated as such,” then you’re immediately thrown into this adult way of life.

It feels like we’re preparing the younger generation for something. Maybe it is to be more conscientious about the decisions we make and being a part of society and contributing to our country, which is awesome and important.

But then you wonder, are we actually mature enough? Are we educated enough?

Some younger people care about politics when there’s that virality, like Elon Musk and his chainsaw – people thought: “Oh wow, this is politics”.

When Labour got elected, I had a conversation with these boys in my year about it. I shared my opinion, and they said: ‘It doesn’t really matter because it doesn’t really affect us.”

There’s a blasé-ness about it. I’ve thought about how many people I know coming out of high school that would say, “Oh no, I just can’t be bothered to go vote”. That’s really concerning because those votes that are missing could make a big difference.

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That’s why I think I would worry people wouldn’t take it as seriously as they should, and as it is.

We are functioning members of this country as well. We should ultimately have a choice about how things go and what our future is going to be, because it’s not our grandparents world anymore – it’s about to be ours.

I think it would be really awesome if it was added to the schooling system and talked about more in school.

I also think lowering the voting age is positive because we’ve seen from the 18- to 24-year-olds that they’re more liberal and green, which is pretty awesome. We have to worry about sustainability and keeping up civil rights.

I wonder if, however, Reform’s marketing scheme would change to cater to its younger audience. I do worry that a lack of education would be the reason that Reform get in again.

‘The voting system needs an overhaul to appeal to my generation’

Sacha Hyams, 16, from north London

When I heard the news, I was quite surprised, because most things start at 18 – like drinking – and driving starts at 17. Not many things you can do at 16.

I agree with it but I feel like the voting system needs a bit of an overhaul to appeal to my generation or the people my age.

I’ve been with my dad to vote. Queuing to this portable cabin took absolutely ages and it was dull. You can pay your taxes online, so you should be able to vote online. Maybe give some sort of incentive to 16- and 17-year-olds who vote to make it appeal to them.

I live in London, so some free TfL [Transport for London] vouchers would make it more appealing.

The general trend I see is, the more wealthy a background person is from, the more into politics they are. A lot of my working-class friends do not care at all about politics. I feel like making it easier, or giving them an incentive to make it more appealing, would definitely help.Giving 16 to 18-year-olds the right to vote is just the start of a big overhaul that is needed.

The Government is going to have to crack down on the spread of misinformation, because now that people my age can vote, what they see on social media, whether its true or not true, will impact their vote.

I feel schools should also teach more about how to avoid misinformation.

Also, whatever political party really utilises social media will benefit. Every single 16- to 18-year-old is on social media and looks at social media, so the use of that and the way parties are going to portray themselves will definitely have an advantage.

‘Everything is going digital – voting should be the same’

Asma Elmi, 16, from Birmingham

With voting now, the adults are not as well informed as us younger people. We’re more online, we’re more aware of what’s happening around us.

I feel like now news doesn’t only come in the form of newspapers. There’s more online. I feel like older people, not necessarily young adults, don’t really see all of that or try to see all of that.

But the decisions they make affect us for the longest time, so I think we should have more of a say in the democracy.

I’m turning 17. When I look around, a lot of people my age have jobs as well. I feel like we should also get a say in stuff like taxes, education, climate change and transport, because the policies they make impact us directly. And we’re going to keep living through all of these decisions that we make.

We think it’s dumb, in a way, that we can’t do anything about it because there’s no voice for us there. If we were allowed to vote, we would have felt that we have a voice.

Yes, not all young people care. Personally, it’s not something I really stress on. It’s the same for adults. Not every adult is going to care about voting. Not every adult is properly educated.

Not everyone is going to be interested in it. So we’re not different in that aspect.

I think some of us will take that responsibility properly and others will misuse it. But I don’t think those who misuse it should take away other’s people’s voice.

Also, everything is getting more and more digital, voting should be the same. I think we would rather do it online. I don’t think we’d all want to wait around. Especially when everyone’s doing quite a busy life.

Personally, I’m not very fond of any parties – I do think Reform is particularly bad. When looking at the others, I’d go for the lesser of the biggest devil.

Reform feels like its taking us back many, many generations with very outdated ideas.

I think proper education on parties’ histories and manifestos should be introduced as well as their leading members’ political history – the big Labour downfall before Conservative rule, Farage being linked with Ukip, and so on.

This should all be taught to teens if we want them to vote.

Hence then, the article about what teenagers think about being able to vote at 16 was published today ( Friday 18/07/2025 - 09:53 PM ) and is available on inews ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.

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