It is being suggested by all political parties that the voting age should be lowered to 16. Such a suggestion is simply a political manoeuvre to win votes.

However much 16-year-olds may be interested in politics, at that age they have got other priorities which, to my mind, should be given greater importance.

I had already expressed my views against such a proposal (August 17, 2008) arguing that “... the vast majority of 16-year-olds have, at this stage, not yet reached full maturity. They have just finished their secondary school and most of them are still puzzled about what career to take up. Recommending that 16-year-olds be given the right to vote is distracting our youngsters from what their priorities should be at a very crucial stage in their lives”.

In his very interesting and enlightening contribution, Let’s Face The Children (January 30), Andrew Azzopardi states: “...it is good that children are socialised into political thinking but it is also imperative to protect them from situations where they are used as props.” Though, in his column, he referred mainly to children, we cannot consider 16-year-olds as adults. The question is how much political involvement is expected from 16-year-olds? What do we exactly mean when we declare that we want children/youth to participate in politics?

Here we are not referring to areas that directly affect youth and, therefore, yes, they should have a say. When voting in national elections there are so many intricacies involved which already puzzle us grown-ups. Imagine a 16-year-old trying to reason what is the best way forward for the country when it comes to energy, health, the economy and all those areas that make up a just society.

It is precisely at the age of 16 that such interests start being questioned. But this is just the initial stage. How can one, therefore, expect a 16-year-old to make an informed, critical, well-balanced and mature decision regarding the future of the country when one is just starting to enquire into the complexities of such a society?

I am not trying to undermine the capabilities of 16-year-olds but, because at that age students are asked to focus on other priorities that affect them directly rather than get them distracted with political agendas, I consider voting at that age not to be in the interest of 16-year-olds.