Give 16 year olds the vote- Later.

Since Alex Salmond announced that 16 and 17 year olds would be allowed to vote in the Scottish Independence referendum, there has been some sort of media frenzy; one drop of blood spills from a story into the waters of the press, and there's a sudden frothing and foaming as people spew their thoughts hither and yon. But enough of that laboured metaphor which, honestly, could be applied to anything. A story breaks, people report it. I feel bad for writing that now. I guess it just sounded good at the time.

Anyway, there has been a surprising amount of support for Salmond, with many (even the Times) feeling that the voting age should be dropped by two years for all manner of elections. The general line of argument is repeated enough that I don't have to spell it out here: they can pay taxes, have all these rights and responsibilities, and so on and so forth. And, on balance, I find myself agreeing with this.

Except for one thing.
We're not ready.

I say 'we're'; as of December, I too will be able to rob whichever monkey has a blue rosette pinned to it of one vote in their majority in Mid Worcestershire. Take that, Cameron! Anyway, by 'we' I mean the cohort of 16 and 17 year olds of which I am, for a couple of months, still a member (past that, I dare say senility will strike, and my hairline will recede to be replaced by cynicism, a bad back and a burning desire to think about mortgages). And by 'not ready', I don't necessarily mean it in the patronising 'not mature enough' sense, although the mock election my politics set ran last year, where year 11 swept Nick Griffin to a landslide victory, may beg to differ. How much of this was genuine belief, though, and how much down to the hilarious prank of 'let's support the BNP' (because, you know, voting for them is, like, the funniest thing ever) is another question.

No. We're not ready largely because we have not been prepared. 4 years of Citizenship at high school. Three hours of political education. One of which was spent watching Eastenders, one of which was inventing a party and then holding a little election (the Fun Communists won, mostly due to a rigged ballot. I should know. I rigged it. Although, to paraphrase Blackadder, the 50 or so votes they won in a class of 30 just proves the conviction with which people voted). People tend to complain that teenagers know little of, and show little appreciation for, politics. Well, maybe if more of an effort were made to teach them, to engage with them, than that needn't be a concern. It's absolutely true that teenagers don't perhaps know enough about politics to vote at the moment (but then, it could be argued, have adults been taught any more?). But this isn't sufficient reason to say that they should never be given the vote.

Take it to the system. Get people interested, or at least educated, in politics from a younger age. Develop a more politically mature generation. When society has provided the tools to make it worthwhile, then 16 year olds should be given the vote.