Give young the vote

On the question of voting rights for 16-year-olds, most correspondents seem to assume that all civil rights should accrue at the same age. From there they proceed to argue that if 16-year-olds can vote, they should also be allowed to buy alcohol, be subject to the same treatment in the justice system, etc.

This assumption flies in the face of logic, consistency and history. We have had no problem with a variety of qualifying ages for various civil rights in the past and up to the present – and qualifying ethnicity and gender too.

The ability to become informed and make responsible choices is not the same as the responsibility for criminal activity, the right to be cared for and protected, or any of the other age-related criteria we apply as a society.

Give young people the right to participate in determining the kind of society they will inherit soon enough. Joanna Tennant, Pinehaven