Giving 16-year-olds the vote is all well and good but we need political education in schools - Yorkshire Post Letters
From: Chris Read, Stanmore Place, Leeds.
The government has announced plans to allow 16 and 17 year olds to vote in the next general election, alongside welcome reforms such as tightening rules on foreign donations and expanding the forms of ID accepted at polling stations. I support all of these changes — though I wish they also addressed our inequitable voting system.
However, expanding the franchise alone is not enough.
About 18 months ago, I did some tutoring at a secondary school just outside Leeds. I was there to support students with their maths, but at the end of one session - just as a conversation - I asked whether they’d had any lessons to prepare them for becoming voters. At that time, voting was still two years away for them. Under the new rules, some would already be eligible.
My question was met mostly with blank stares, apart from two lads who seemed to understand where I was coming from. I don’t blame the rest of the class - but it was clear they’d received no guidance on what voting and democratic participation involve. By all accounts, this was a very good school, which I won’t name because in this respect, I suspect it is fairly typical.
This isn’t a criticism of young people - nor of older voters who may also have gaps in their understanding of how the system works. The problem isn’t with people, but with the fact that for generations we’ve neglected the need for proper, practical learning about democracy and how to make use of it.
Some may worry that political education risks turning into indoctrination. That’s not what I’m proposing. What’s needed is an apolitical, practical grounding in how to participate meaningfully in public life.
And yes, the cynic in me wonders whether some politicians are perfectly happy with the status quo.
I’m not going to propose a full curriculum in this letter, but a basic understanding of the different levels of government, what MPs are responsible for, how to write to a representative, and how to fact-check political claims would be a good start.
If democracy in this country isn’t in the best of health, it may be because we’ve come to take it for granted. A garden can be a beautiful thing - until it’s left untended.
Democracy isn’t just about voting - but a vote is, like a chainsaw, a powerful tool. And we expect anyone wielding one of those to be properly trained. So let’s give young people a vote - and the guidance to use it well.