Evaluate weather the voting age should be lowered? Introduction This report will look at reasons why the voting age should be lowered and the reasons why voting age shouldn’t be lowered and evaluate what is the best option to receive from the government should the voting age be kept the same or should it reduced and does it have lots of benefits of the voting age being reduced or is it lots disadvantages of doing that. Currently the voting age law in the U.K is 18 to vote in public election. There is a debate whether the voting should be reduced to 16 or not. in this report we will find out what needs to be done for the voting age for example does it need to reconsidered and should there be voting to see how many 16 and 17-year olds who would actually take part in elections. Reasons why voting age should be lowered. There are many reasons why voting age should be lowered because at the age of 16 you can get married, pay taxes, leave home, and can have sex legally. If you can do so many things at the age of 16 then why not allowed to vote. Also, another point that needs to be taken into consideration is that young people under the age of 18 have to follow the same laws as the adults then why not be allowed to vote in elections because they have to act like adults even under age of 18 or otherwise they will face the same consequences as an adult. For example, if you are caught using your phone whilst driving you will get 6 penalty points on your licence and £200 fine and also you might lose your driving licence if the licence isn’t more than 2 years old. This needs to be taken into consideration this law applies on anyone that get caught no matter the age under 18 who have a driver licence or over 18 so therefore allowing the voting age to 16 shouldn’t make any problems because they become responsible adults before the age of 18. Because the 16 years old have to be adults before there 18 because if they do something wrong they will face the same punishment as the adults would. Also, another reason why the voting age should be lowered to 16 is because at this you are allowed to drive cars and some motor cycles (50 cc engine) which are potentially deadly vehicles if used in the wrong way, from the age of 16/17 therefore I think that they can be trusted with a ballot box to put their vote in. There are lots responsibilities that 16/ 17-year olds have such as what their next career move is after finishing year 11(16 years age). So therefore, allowing the age to vote to be lowered 16 would allow them to be more confident with themselves and will gain some knowledge and experience on politics and how apply and vote which is good so they know what is happening in the country for example who is standing in general elections to become the next prime minster. Reasons why voting age should not be lowered. On the other side there, lots of different reasons why the voting age should not be lowered and just be kept the same because allowing the voting age to be reduced to 16 can lead to wrong decision when coming to voting and can have big impacts on everyone living in the country which the 16-17-year olds don’t realise at the age they can vote for something they shouldn’t such as it impact later on life later when they grow up. It can have impact on country because there are large number of 16- and 17-year olds in the U.K as you can see in the following chart: 1,394 thousand of 16/17-year olds in the U.K and is slowly increasing every year. This can have negative impact on the U.K voting as the turn out for elections can be totally differently than expected because the 16- and 17-years olds may not agree with other elder peoples experience and knowledge. According to -https://www.britpolitics.co.uk/uk-elections-16-vote-democracy/ “The majority of voters in opinion polls, including half of those in the 16-18-year-old group, felt that the voting age should stay at 18.” This means that most people voted to keep the voting age same as it is and having opinion polls suggests that there’s no need to lower the age for voting and half them voter were 16-17-year olds this means that not all 16 -17-year olds are not confident at that age to vote in election or they just don’t have any interest in politics.Also, another reason why the voting age should not be lowered is because at the age of 16 you will still be living with your parents and therefore 16-year olds are more easily to get influenced by their parents or whoever is looking after them. So, this means parents to the 16-year olds are basically given extra votes because not all 16-year olds have knowledge or experience in politics and might not even have any interest so their parent or guardian might convince them to vote specific party or person for that reason and their son or daughter will do it to get on their good side. So therefore, not allowing the voting age to reduce from 18 to 16 will be a good idea because they can get convinced by their parent or guardian and when they get to the age of 18 they will be more independent for example living away from parent or working away which means they will not be convinced by anyone other than them selves who to vote for and also they will have some experience and knowledge themselves by the time they are 18. Conclusion The majority of students believe that the voting age should not be lowered and should stay as it is 18, there are many young people age 14-17 who don’t care about politics and world issues however there is fifty percent that might care and want to take part in politics. Another reason why they don’t want take part voting is because they are in school and stressed with their course work and exams as year 11 is not easy for anyone and also considering what steps to take career wise after finishing year 11. While the debate on the voting age continues in Parliament, it seems to be the case that many students are already decided on the outcome the voting age should stay at 18. Because at the age 18 you start to get more amateur and you have more experience and knowledge of what you are doing and who are going to vote for. I think that voting age needs to reconsidered because under the age of 18 there are lots of rights and responsibility that 16/17 have to follows. As you can see at the ages of 16 and 17 you can drive, have sex legally and lots of these things but not allowed to vote at age 16. Then age restriction for other things should go up for example to drive a car or learn it should then be 18 as well, also the age to have sex legally should also be 18 there are lots things that needs to taken into consideration before taking anyone steps. It can either be the voting age dropped to 16 years or everything you are allowed to do when your 16 and 17 should be restricted to 18 as well. References 1. Abigail chandler- 3 November 2017- Available at URL Read more: https://metro.co.uk/2017/11/03/the-voting-age-should-be-lowered-to-16-and-this-is-why-7051099/?ito=cbshare, cessed-1-10-19 2. Professor Jonathan tonge- 2017- Available at URL https://www.britpolitics.co.uk/uk-elections-16-vote-democracy/. Accessed-01-10-19 3. Berney Stephenson-23 May 2019, why voting age should be reduced. All person (online) Available https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/ Accessed 03-10-19 4. Leaker, D (2019), 16-17 year old population: All persons (Online) Available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/timeseries/jn5p/lms Accessed on 5th October 2019.