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BC voting age should be lowered
to 16, possibly younger

> Younger voices can and should be heard

Jessica Berget
Opinions Editor

 

I? BC, citizens are old enough to be
productive members of our society
and have adult responsibilities by age 16.
They can drive, get married, pay taxes,
sign up for the military, but they can’t
make adult decisions, like voting in
elections that will significantly impact
their futures, and that absolutely

needs to change. With recent news

of school walk-outs in the US and
the current political climate, it’s
obvious that activism and
politics are important to

the younger generations,

and the legal voting age

should reflect that.

Recently, Green Party
leader Andrew Weaver
introduced a bill that would
allow people as young as
16 years old to vote in BC.

Some have argued that 16
is too immature an age to
make major political decisions,
or that they don’t care enough,
but that’s not a fair assumption
to make without research.
Places like Brazil, Scotland,

 

Argentina, Austria have already allowed
16 and 17-year-olds to vote, and a 2012
electoral study from the University of
Copenhagen in Denmark has shown
that people around this age are already
political participants. Voters under 20
had a vastly higher turnout than

their older peers, but a

lower

 

turnout was noted with participants
between ages 20-25. This shows that
16 and 17-year-olds already have the
means of making their own informed
political decisions, and I think they
should be allowed to make decisions
that can and will affect their futures.

It's okay to not have much going on

> Despite what the internet tells you

Katie Czenczek
Staff Writer

 

wie finals being finished for

the winter term, you might
start to feel like there’s a big rush to
get everything that you wanted to
do during the semester done right
now. Temperatures are rising, as
are the number of posts showing
people going out, and so too does the
pressure to go out and have fun.

I’m not sure why we feel the need
to update 600 people about our travel
plans, beach days, or concerts, but
after seeing what feels like every single
person you know—and some you
don’t—doing “something,” it’s easy to
start feeling like you're missing out.

That’s not to say people shouldn't
post everything they do online (they
shouldn’t), but this is more a suggestion
to keep in mind that there are times
when the people who post a lot feel
the exact same way you do. In fact,

I'd even argue that many people
post things just to prove that they're
having fun and actually going out.

It becomes a feedback loop:

Someone posts about all the wonderful
adventures they’re having; the person
who views it feels like they’re missing
out, so they start posting about
something, and it goes around again. |
don’t think cutting out social media is
the solution to this, because it’s more
about catching yourself when you start
to feel that itch of dissatisfaction with

Ae
oe Ob

your life. Ask yourself why you feel that
way, and, if it turns out that it’s just
because youre comparing your life to
some fitness model online who just went
to Bali on a paid sponsorship, then you
should know what your problem is.

What I’m trying to say is that it’s
totally fine to be doing nothing at all,
and we need to stop putting so much

  
    

 

Illustration by Cara Seccafien

hoto by Analyn Cuarto

(¥ It’s okay to not have much going on
(¥ Why do you have such a problem with a
friendly, feminine nickname?

And more!

This turnout compares with BC’s
2013 voting polls, as people aged 18-
24 had a higher voting turnout than
25-34-year-olds did. Keep in mind that
18-24 only counts for seven different
age groups while 25-34 counts for ten,
and still had a higher voting turnout.
This illustrates that young adults
do understand the importance of
participating in major political elections
and do take it seriously, they just need
to be given the opportunity to do so.
It’s important to get involved in
politics at a young age. The younger
people are when they become
involved and educated in politics,
the more informed they will be
when their voting time comes, and
the more habit-forming voting will
be as they navigate adulthood.
Democracy is a vital part of
our government, and allowing
young adults to participate within a
democratic society but not allowing
them to have their voices heard
within the same society is ridiculous.
Younger adults will feel the same
impact on these electoral decisions
as people 18 and older do because
it’s their future—just as much as
it is ours—that we are voting for,
so their voices must be heard.

pressure on ourselves and each other
to be going out and doing more.

Everyone needs an inside day to
just relax, surf the web, and recharge.
Our generation, especially, puts way
too much emphasis on going out, and
I think a lot of that has to do with
us constantly seeing other people’s
embellished lives online. Who cares
if it’s hot outside and your friends are
asking you to hang out? If you aren't up
for it, don’t feel pressured to go out.

Moreover, no one thinks to
themselves, “wow, so-and-so never
does anything, ever.” People are
inherently self-centred and are so
busy being insecure about their own
stuff that they won't even notice if
you're going out or not. For all they
know, you could be living it up!

At the end of the day—and the end
of this article—you just have to do you,
whatever that is. Read a book, binge your
favourite TV show, eat a ton of junk food
and then regret it later. It doesn’t matter
what it is, all you need is to be content
with yourself. Just remember that it’s
completely impossible to do absolutely
nothing, and if getting out of bed is all
you do for the day, then that’s enough.