Good to involve younger people
Nova Scotia’s education department has a great initiative in a citizenship course for schools. It’s a splendid idea to encourage an interest and understanding of government starting at a young age. But really, that should be the first of a two-step process, leading ultimately to lowering the voting age.
The province’s Citizenship Education 9 social studies course is being piloted in 17 schools, and will be widely offered in the 2018-19 school year. The aim is to teach youth how to be engaged in their communities, know about their rights and responsibilities and enhance their decision-making skills.
Part of the course is to identify an issue in their community and work together to find a solution.
As government members have commented about the program, it’s never too early to teach youth about the importance of being engaged in their communities and schools, and on issues at home and on the global stage.
The issue has been batted around fairly frequently in recent years, proposals from some quarters to lower the voting age to 16, from the current 18 years of age. That would certainly be a logical outcome of formally teaching this kind of information and encouraging community-focused thinking among Grade 9 students.
Among those hesitant to see voting rights extended to 16- and 17-year-olds, the objection usually centres on whether they would have a grasp of issues and what various candidates are offering. But you could say that about people of any age — you can become as informed as you want to be. Or an adult can remain uninformed — and still vote, or choose not to.
A worrisome trend from elections in recent years is a continual slip in numbers turning out at polls, sometimes dipping below 60 per cent of those eligible. Some contend that including younger people in this democratic exercise is one way of reversing that decline. One point to emphasize is the observation that those who vote beginning at a younger age are more likely to continue participating when they’re older.
Making changes in who is eligible isn’t exactly revolutionary either. Decades ago the age was
21. Consider it was only about a century ago that women in Nova Scotia and a lot of other provinces were finally allowed to vote. At one time you had to be a landowner.
One of the more compelling reasons to involve younger people, encouraging them to educate themselves on governance and issues, is that these are things that will affect them well into the future. Policies set today don’t merely affect the here and now, they can have implications for generations to come. Just think of the current discussion about climate change, the need for cleaner energy, the questions about what will drive the economy of the future.
Think about the fiscal policies, the debt of governments across the country and who will ultimately have to pay the tab.
When we’re leaving a world behind that has been compromised in so many ways, and faces challenges, the sooner the younger generation takes notice and participates, the better.