Votes at 16 Scotland
2 
- Profile views: 496
- Group created: November 2007
- www.bebo.com/Votesat16scotland
- Official website:
- http://www.ukyouthparliament.org.uk/...
- Part of:
- Aberdeen College
- Tagline
- Votes @ 16
- Me, Myself, and I
- At UK Youth Parliament we believe that those over the age of 16 are long overdue the right to vote and will campaign for the Government to implement this change.
We believe that young people should be involved in the democratic process. To enable this we want young people to be taught the importance of politics from a young age and also the impact politics has on everyday life as a young person.
close Blog
-
The facts about voting and young people in the UK.
1. The current age of 18 has been in place since 1970, when the 1969 Representation of People Act came into effect and reduced the age from 21.
2. Citizenship education is now a compulsory part of the national curriculum in England at key stages 3 and 4 (from the age of eleven to sixteen) and it is an optional part of the curriculum for key stages 1 and 2 (from the age of five to eleven).
3. There is a great inconsistency about the age at which a person gains various civil rights. Before a person can vote, at the age of 18, they can:
-Leave school (16)
-Take up full time employment (16)
-Get married (16)
-Leave home (16)
-Claim some benefits if they need them (16)
-Join the armed forces (16)
-Learn to drive a car (17)
-Pay taxes (16)
4. A number of countries use the voting age of 16,including Brazil, Nicaragua, Cuba and Bosnia Herzegovina. Indonesia has a voting age of 17. There are moves in Austria to lower the voting age to 16.
5. The Electoral Commission was asked by the government to set up a consultation and report back. When the report was published in April 2004 it recommended that the voting age should remain at 18.
6. Depending on the timing of general elections, a person eligible to vote at 18 may not get the chance to vote until they are 23.
7. Local councils have started to debate having policy on lowering the voting age.
8. There are 81 current members of the House of Commons who benefited directly from the last lowering of the voting age in 1970. These include Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Liberal Democrat MP Simon Hughes and former Conservative Trade and Industry Secretary John Redwood.
9. The Isle of Man, the first country in the world to introduce votes for women, lowered the official voting age to 16 in 2006.
10. Scotland has over 1.5 million children and young people- that's just under one third of the total population of Scotland!
0 Comments 769 days
-
Browns Supports Votes @ 16
Gordon Brown today signals his support for lowering the age of voting to 16 as part of a radical programme to counter widespread alienation from modern politics. In an exclusive article in the Guardian, he says Labour must be prepared to reopen the debate on electoral reform for the House of Commons, a proposal he has previously opposed. He says the executive must give up power, and again backs changes to the unelected House of Lords. Labour dropped the idea of voting at 16 after the proposal was rejected by the Electoral Commission, but Mr Brown's aides say the chancellor is in favour, so long as it is part of a package of "citizenship education" in schools.0 Comments 769 days
-
UK Youth Parliament Votes @ 16
Have a look at our "Votes @ 16" Video,
I'm in this one.
try and spot me
http://www.ukyouthparliament.org.uk/...
The young people in this country want to be heard.
At UK Youth Parliament we believe that those over the age of 16 are long overdue the right to vote and will campaign for the Government to implement this change.
We believe that young people should be involved in the democratic process. To enable this we want young people to be taught the importance of politics from a young age and also the impact politics has on everyday life as a young person.
According to the Government a young person from the age of 16 is old enough to;
- Work in full-time employment
- Pay taxes
- Pay adult fares on transport
- Get married and have children
- Join the army
But not old enough to vote!
Our Aim
To lower the voting age to 16 within a reasonable time frame. We also hope to increase participation in elections and involvement in politics through enhanced education programmes.
0 Comments 769 days
close Whiteboard
close Forum
-
Get Your Vote
by
Get Your Vote
Think 16-year-olds should be allowed to vote? In London at 3pm this Saturday, 13th June?0 Replies 28 weeks
Then check out www.bebo.com/getyourvote or email getyourvote@bbc.co.uk for more details...
See you Saturday! Thanks, Jenni @ the BBC Get Your Vote team. -
The Scottish Youth Parliament In The Eyes Of People
by
Barry Thomson
The Scottish Youth Parliament is continually developing as an organisation and a forum for young people to have a say. The next step in its development is to increase its funding and role in the wider legislative process. Funding will be committed to allow the SYP to increase its activity and work towards nationwide elections. We will ensure that the Scottish Youth Parliament is consulted on Scottish Parliament and Scottish Executive decisions relating to young people.0 Replies 109 weeks
We will consult on the options for giving the SYP a more formal role in the work of the Scottish Parliament and Executive including:
giving the SYP the power to request the attendance of Executive Ministers on a quarterly basis to answer questions in front of the SYP or its committees.
a formal route for the SYP to introduce up to 1 Bill (sponsored by a committee or MSP) in each parliamentary session. -
Bobby Kennedy said
by
Barry Thomson
"the world’s hope .... is to rely on youth. The cruelties and obstacles of this swiftly changing planet will not yield to obsolete dogmas and outworn slogans. .... It demands the qualities of youth: not a time of life but a state of mind, a temper of the will, a quality of the imagination, a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease."0 Replies 109 weeks
thing is darlin they have it at 18 for a reason, alot of people younger than 18 are retards and will vote for a bad party to piss people off for random humour
voting is overrated anyway
hi
my friend and i are doing a debate on this topic and you site has been a really good help
thanks
yes
if you can liVe on your own
get married(in scotland)
and fight for your country at the age of 16, then you should have a right to vote who is in power.
theres is plenty of 16 and 17 year olds that would use the vote more wisely than some of those of a higher age,
16 or over Scot?
Please join -
Peter Dow's Scottish National Standard Bearer site <youscot>
http://www.bebo.com/youscot
"A website for political freedom-fighters and Bravehearts from Scotland to every land."
The website to lead the people to freedom.
This is the group on bebo associated with Peter Dow's Scottish National Standard Bearer website and the For Freedom Forums.
Scottish republican socialist Peter Dow, author and protester (video)
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=789SkK...
Peter Dow's Scottish National Standard Bearer website
http://scot.extroverthost.com/
The For Freedom Forums -
http://scot.extroverthost.com/forfre...
Register your own username and password -
http://scot.extroverthost.com/forum/...
A guide to how to register your username -
http://scot.extroverthost.com/forum/...
http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Red...
Petition is closing soon 17th June... Sign up now if you havent already.
it is ridiculous to say that people under 21 dont understand how to vote cos i just turned 21 yet im a doing a politics degree so by your standards i dont have the mentality to vote? and its not for under 16's its voting from 16. if children are tought about basic politics such as how FPTP and PR work and they look at political parties in school why wouldnt they understand and why shouldnt they get a vote since chances are it will affect them and their future education. also PR works because every1's opinions count and since we have a gov in place and the country hasnt fallen appart everything obviously does get done. as for doing things for yourself i know that i wouldnt be at uni studying and the majority of ppl i know would be at uni studying if the gov didnt pay for it. and yea there are immature young ppl but not every 16 year old will vote not even every 40 year old votes, those who want to vote should be able to.
Utter rubbish, 16? seriously? i would be reluctant to offer anyone under 21 the vote to be honest. Under 16's, such is the mentality of people in Scotland i guarantee you would get Celtic fans voting Green, Rangers fans voting Tory, wee Joe down the street voting for Labour because his pal did. At 16, even 21, you have no realistic grasp or interpretation of life and politics in this country, the only reasons parties offer this alternative is simply beacause anyone that has been alive for a while knows they are a shower of selfish lying bastards. With the FPTP voting in the UK parliament it is very hard to see how ones vote can count. Likewise i think the PR system up here allows to many peoples opinions count, and nothing ever gets done. Anything you want done in life you've got to do it yourself, thats the lesson people should learn here. No-one is mature enough at 16 to determine the best outcome for Scotland, democracy is this societys downfall.
There labour goverment is just scared they if they let votes at 16 they shall be overturned and the the SNP shall take over they know that snp have better rights and get all young people involved in everything which has scared labour alot so they do not alow votes at 16
It makes sense, you can get married at 16 which is such a huge responsiblity, however you can't vote? It's just common sense? Great group x
Hey guys
We set up a flatshare bebo page last year, mainly to help young people find suitable accommodation. It seems to have gone down really well and new members are joining regularly.
With so many students looking for accommodation for going back to uni/college, I thought I would take this opportunity to highlight our page again.
If you would like to look for a flat to share or a mate to share your flat please add a post to our page, the URL is - http://www.bebo.com/Flatshare-flatmate
Please remember your post will be open for everyone to view, so be careful what details you add, (eg no personal info or tel nos). Please add us to your groups to get the word out.
Thank you
hi everbody
if we pay tax to the the goverment we should have the right to vot
i think that if you can get married at 16 and get a house and all that ohter stuff you should be aloud to vote i think the goverment thinks that letting 16 years olds vote that we will all just vote for anyone when we will not educate people well they are young and make them understand how important it really is and let them vote.
i think it's a fantastic idea
people hat argue that 1617year olds won't vote, no less than the current 18+ do.
the 2005 westminsit elects had something like a 50%turnout...
anything we can do to improve that is something.
those who want to take the oppetunity will, while those who 'do not care about politics' will refrain from voting, as they're likely to when thye are over 18.
it's a great idea!
x
Britain is not a model-democracy, if those who can fight illegal wars, drive a car (and therefore pay relevant taxes) and get married amongst other things cannot vote. Still we have a House of Lords, which still has a major influence on affairs in the House of Commons.
Many of the soldiers are young, ranging from 17>21. Id; say that about 10% (at a rough guess) of Scotland's soldiers, could not vote in parliament, and therefore had no say on the war.
I think the SNP have the right idea, lets put the country's decisions into the hands of the young people as well. It's been proven that those aged between 16 to 25 are the most politically active. We're the ones who campaign on the streets and fight injustice here in Scotland and the rest of the world.
I cant help but point out how people keep focusing on the negatives associated with young people 16-17 voting. How do we know they wouldnt utilise their right to vote? Most evidence shows that those consulted would vote if they had the chance. People argue that they dont know anything about politics. You could say the same for a large proportion of adults.
Look at the state of our voting population at present. On average theres around 50% turnout at elections, so what about the other 50% of eligible voters who will no doubt grump on policies the present government put in place or say the couldnt care less. Given the chance, you could see an increase if 16 year olds were allowed to vote!
More needs to be done to promote politics and build relationships between young people and mp's, msp's, local councillors, msyp's. If young people know more about politics and are participating from a young age then they would be more likely to continue to vote throughout their adult lives!
Yeah sorry aboot i last comment lol
but he wis spikin utter nonsense
andy bohan ur a gobshite
n u should only vote if ur payin taxes