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Imagine treating Adolescence like a lived documentary, knowing how impressionable 16 year olds are … and THEN deciding they are mature enough to vote 🤷‍♀️

40,791 次观看 • 1 年前 •via X (Twitter)

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Dear Labour, 16 years olds don’t need the vote. They need adults to do their duty and act in their best interests, rather than putting ballot papers in their hands and telling them they’re “bright enough” to do it themselves. Despite what Starmer wants you believe, 16 year olds do not (and should not) bear the same responsibilities as adults: • A 16 year old can drink with a meal in a pub or restaurant, but only if the alcohol is purchased by someone over 18. • A 16 year old can get married, but only with their parents’ consent. • A 16 year old is considered to lack the necessary capacity so cannot enter into legal contracts, except in very limited circumstances. • A 16 year old can join the military, but only with parental consent — is heavily criticised as we are also the only European country to allow minor enlistment. • Nearly all employed 16-17 year olds do not pay taxes — they must must earn more than £242 per week to pay National Insurance, so they would have to work at least 38 (£6.40 p/h) hours per week to meet the threshold They must also exceed £12.57K per year to pay income tax, which is incredibly unlikely. For the few that do — like child actors — there are also usually adults around them (eg. accountants, managers, parents) who support and represent their interests as they are usually not responsible enough to do it themselves. • Just because 16 year olds can have sex, that still doesn’t make them adults — the abundance of evidence on the sexual exploitation of 16-17 year olds demonstrates their vulnerability, while legislation extends to them the same child protective powers as with younger children. Why? Because they are children. No matter how smart or mature a 16 year old may seem, they are still a child, and it is a failure of our protective duty to burden them with adult responsibilities. To lower the voting age to 16 is to allow children to be considered ‘legal adults’ before they’re ready. I know first-hand the damage that can be caused by treating a child like an adult before their time. At 16, I was legally homeless and under social services. I worked three jobs to survive, sofa-surfed through my A-Levels, showered at school, and survived off the kindness of friends and teachers. When Votes at 16 activists talk about the teenagers to whom ‘adult responsibilities’ apply and should be given a vote, they are describing my life. But where they believe lowering the voting age gives ‘a seat at the table’, all I see is a mechanism by which adults and services will be able to shirk their protective duties to vulnerable kids. I remember being told so often by my social workers that I was “smart enough” to do things on my own. The fact that I was “bright” and “mature” was weaponised against me to force me to take on burdens that I neither wanted nor was ready for. I will never forget sitting in ‘Multi Agency Meetings’ sobbing for someone to help me. I will never forget being told that it was “my actions that led me to where I was”. I will never forget my local council, social workers, and other professionals using legal loopholes to shirk their duties towards that vulnerable 16 year old child. 16 and 17 year olds like me – the ones that campaigners point to as the ‘model example’ of young people who should be allowed to vote – don’t need a vote to be “empowered”. It isn’t empowering to expect children to act like adults, and it does far more damage than good to force teenagers further into a legal grey area. Parliamentary decisions do affect young people. However, it is the job of the legislature to make decisions for the people, and it is the duty of adults to make decisions in the best interests of children. It is a failure of our protective duty to burden children with adult duties because they’re “smart enough to handle it”. If the only way you can win the next election is by putting ballot papers shouldn’t be put in the hands of babes, then you shouldn’t be in government.

Samantha Smith

106,851 次观看 • 1 年前