Vote@16: what is the role of education?

In September, OBESSU was represented at a European Youth Forum (YFJ) taskforce meeting on Vote@16 in Brussels. The meeting brought together different YFJ Member organisations campaigning in favour of lowering the voting age to 16.

During the two days, participants discussed about the situations in their Member organisations, what has been happening and what might happen in the future. Many of the participants were from National Youth Councils from countries that also have Member organisations in OBESSU, so synergies were quickly noticed.

Participants had the chance to have an overview on the situation at the European level, have an update on how the European Youth Forum continues to work on the topic, and discuss arguments both for and against the campaign. Moreover, Mr. Bowman, a guest speaker from the University of Bath (United Kingdom), brought new ideas to the table.

When it comes to lowering the voting age to 16, it is essential taking into consideration the role of education. Civic education has to be brought up to a new level in order to get young people prepared for voting. Bringing politics into school level might sound like a complicated idea but the sooner young people are getting involved in political discussions, the sooner they will raise up to the occasion of voting. Young people should have the right to participate in elections and get their voices heard!

In the near future, during the event  Right to Representation (Vilnius, Lithuania), OBESSU will keep working on the topic, promoting discussions on active participation of young people. If interested, more information regarding this event will be online at the end of this week on our website.

Written by Oona Heiska, OBESSU Board member