A Politically (un) Informed Youth

On the 12th of February, this Labour government introduced a bill to extend the right to vote to 16 and 17 year olds. To give them the ability to shape the future of our country by letting them pick who will be in our government.

It aged out of the Parliament, but then it was re-introduced on on the 14th of May this year — just over a month ago. Or, to put it another way, a month and a day before the same Labour government told everyone under the age of 16 they were going to take away their access to a large part of the internet, and told 16 and 17 year olds they were going to limit their access to a large part of the internet.

These two facts might seem unconnected at first. And I am not suggesting that the Labour government decided they would grant 16 and 17 year olds (and 14 and 15 year olds) a huge boon to their future, then less than a month later take away a different part of their future. Not even they could plan to be that ridiculous.

No — the connection (connections) I am making between these two things are unrelated to the timing of the incidents, but instead related to the content and outcomes of the incidents.

The idea of extending the vote to 16 and 17 year olds is to get them involved in the political process. To make them more politically aware. To change — to reverse — the culture of political apathy that seems to be sweeping the United Kingdom. The last election was a very good example of this — turnout was 60%, the government was elected with 34% of the vote which is no way to run a country and not really a basis to claim that a government has “the overwhelming support of the people”

But getting 16 and 17 year olds will only work if they are politically informed. It is bad enough that a large swath of the electorate seems to be working off what they read in the press rather than seeking out informed debate, or at least seeking out other opinions than what appears on the front pages of the single newspaper they read, but it is hard to imagine that 14 and 15 year olds get their information from newspapers at all.

So when 14 and 15 year olds are on the cusp of being able to vote, and when 16 and 17 year olds are able to vote, it will be vital that they are politically informed. Or at least it should be vital that they are politically informed. And it is more than likely — it is almost certain — that they will get their information from the web. From talking to their parents. From talking to their friends.

And from social media.

Except now they will be banned from getting it from social media, because no under the age of 16 will be allowed on social media. One of their main sources of political information and political discourse will be cut off and so when they turn 16 — when they are able to vote — there is every probability they will be ignorant, uninformed and voting based on that.

Which will defeat the purpose of giving them the vote in the first place. And instead will just give the world two more years of politically apathetic zombies instead.

If the government are going to give 16 year olds and 17 year olds the vote, they need to ensure that the 16 year olds and 17 year olds know what voting entails, ensure they are politically informed, ensure they are ready to take on the responsibility.

And it is not clear how stripping them of access to one of the best resources that 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17 year olds have is going to ensure that that is the case.