Teens to 'throw down the gauntlet' over voting at 16

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Today the UK Youth Parliament will make history by debating in the House of Commons chamber.

Young people with a diverse range of backgrounds and beliefs will unite in bringing the views of their constituents to a national stage.

The speeches have been written, the interviews arranged, the MPs invited.

However, Westminster seems to view young people across the country as irresponsible, unprepared and lacking in sufficient maturity to vote on how their country should be run.

This needs to change.

In our apparently respect-driven society, young people seem to be consistently portrayed as monsters by the mainstream media.

Only 12 per cent of stories on young people are positive and only one in ten actually bothers to quote a young person, according to research by Ipsos MORI.

Despite this skewed, paper-selling image, young people have to deal with what we as a society consider some of the greatest responsibilities of citizenship.

At 16 a young person can leave home, join the workforce and be taxed.

Surely the old adage 'no taxation without representation' should be of some value here.

If the UK Youth Parliament, whose members are collectively elected by tens of thousands of young people, is not evidence enough for wanting a say in life-changing political decisions, there is plenty more.

School councils around the country provide a great way for young people to get involved with the democratic process.

Elected committees in sixth forms and colleges represent the views of shy, but still opinionated, students.

But apparently, this process would all be too baffling on a national level. Nonsense.

Perhaps the most compelling argument for Votes@16 is the recruitment of 16 and 17 year-olds across the country to the armed forces.

After absorbing the state's specifically-targeted propaganda, they are typically signed up for four years' service, making hostilities if not immediate, almost inevitable in the present circumstances.

If young people are ready to make this decision, surely they have the right to choose who leads them?

The time for considerations, conversations and even consultations, is over.

It's time to throw down the gauntlet and give young people a real say. It's time to give young people the vote.

James Evans is Member of Youth Parliament (MYP) for Wokingham.

He will be leading the debate and arguing forVotes@16at the UK Youth Parliament's House of Commons event on Friday 30th October. It will be televised on BBC Parliament at 4.30pm.