Voting At 16 Years Old

The United Kingdom announced this week that it would lower the voting age to 16 in time for the next general election. We Americans and others seem somewhere between puzzled and put off by the idea, as this issue generates a wide range of reactions.

Voting at 16: A trend already under way

Not the first country to do this, the U.K. follows Scotland, Wales and the Channel Islands, where younger voters already cast ballots. Around the globe, Austria became the first European country in 2008 to lower its national voting age to 16, with Malta following suit a decade later. In South and Central America, Brazil, Nicaragua, Ecuador and Argentina have reset voting from age 16 for years.

When I cover a story, I decide, among other things, the approach – and go from there. This is a rare one, as it jumped at me from three positions: what’s good, what’s bad (maybe ‘worrisome’ is a better word), and what’s funny (read: skeptical, cynical, sarcastic).

An opportunity to lift all ships

Although it is well known that many voters are not the most diligent about being responsible, and well-informed – and that this is not likely to change among teens – if we are interested in securing the future of democracy, this is the time to reconstruct our commitment to teaching civics and critical thinking from the early grades. Grade school education is where we can embed the idea that a rising tide lifts all shifts.

“Trouble ahead, trouble behind. Don’t you know that notion just crossed my mind.”

Teenagers, despite our best efforts to educate them in open-minded ways, are gullible and therefore vulnerable. There is no limit to how much so, and recent history confirms that. Imagine the naïve mind of a 16-yer old being manipulated by the devious, nefarious, and exceptionally skillful political strategists who are backed by countless billions of bucks. No contest. And think back only to the Cambridge Analytica scandal of the 2016 campaign. Today, the average time spent on social media screens is 4.5 hours per day. Anyone see a problem ahead?

Sometimes, ya’ just gotta laugh

• Teen mood swings now have electoral consequences.
• Voting for president and leader of the free world based on what a TikTok influencer says in 9 seconds.
• “I’m surely capable of shaping democracy, but not until after I finish my algebra homework.”
• “Sorry I forgot to vote. I was editing on Snapchat.”
• Voted at 8:00. Off to lunch in the student cafeteria at 11:30.
• Imagine someone casting a vote for president right after failing a driving test.
• The most oft-repeated phrase in candidate debates is “Wait. What?”.