Is Lowering the Voting Age a Sensible Idea?

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The age for voting in the UK is currently at 18. However there is discussion on whether the voting age should be lowered to 16. Some agree with this concept, some think it should be increased and there are others to whom I believe have the most plausible argument and think the voting age should stay the same Some feel that the voting age should be lowered to 16. This is because at 16 you are able to marry, pay taxes, enter the armed forces in most of the UK and leave home. You can legally have sex, which implies it is the age at which the Government believes one is at the adequate age to become a parent. Surely if you are thought to be of age to become a parent, get married and pay taxes, then you should be enough to decide who it is that makes the policies that so greatly affect your life. Another reason for lowering the voting age to 16 is the issue of apathy, which is the biggest problem facing the UK political system. As politicians are fighting an uphill battle with the young demographic and they can help themselves by engaging the people in decision-making at a younger age which will educate them in politics and hopefully help resolve the participation crisis. Others may feel as if the current voting age is too young for people to start voting and that people should earn the right to vote in their twenties, once they’ve gained some life experiences and can think independently. At 18 the youth feel as if they what is good for them but the reality of it is that they do not. Because at 18, one is easily swayed in their decision making by friends or by parents and have not been given the right amount of time to mature their own opinions or are still undereducated on politics but just vote as it what everyone else is doing by extending the amount of time in which a person can vote may make them want to vote by the time they are in their twenties as they have been

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