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Rating: (231)

Author: Martina Bormolini

VOTING AND DRIVING LICENSE AT THE AGE OF SIXTEEN, DO YOU AGREE?

Livigno 19. 01. 2008

Teenagers, can we rely on our commitments?

Are sixteen-year-old teens responsible? What do you think?

Are sixteen-year-old teens responsible? Yes, they are, according to some politicians, to vote in the local elections. As it happens in Austria. Nevertheless from the survey it is clear that Italian youth do not care about politics, who can vote at the primary elections of the European Union. According to other politicians, sixteen-year-old students are also mature enough to drive; as in France, where the provisional driving licence halved deadly accidents on the streets, because it made young people more aware. However the report of the latest Census confirms that 40.6% of under twenty four-year-old drive in an aggressive and dangerous way. But what do the young think?

Camilla, nineteen years old
In my opinion driving and voting aren’t the priorities of a sixteen-year-old girl. Maybe it’s more important to have the possibility to travel and have the means for studying and understanding what we want to do in the future.

Luca, twenty-one years old
I don’t agree with voting and driving licences at the age of sixteen. They are influenced by fashion and by music. Politics is a serious thing. Driving is more simple, but always with someone nearby.

Linda, eighteen years old
When I was sixteen I was ready to vote. If they bring the voting age to sixteen, they should help many young people to approach politics and community life.

Rebecca, twenty-one years old
They should drive a car when they are sixteen. They aren’t less responsible than many adults that drink before driving. The vote maybe should give voice to a generation that today speaks only by means of the internet. 

Marco, twenty-two years old
Before we could vote at twenty-one; after it changed to eighteen. Today we should vote at sixteen, because the young grow more quickly than before. When you are sixteen years old you can ride a scooter; why not drive a car? This limit is not logical.

Riccardo, twenty-three years old
I see my younger brother who is sixteen-years old, and I feel the age difference. In my opinion they are too naïve to vote. For what concern the driving, there are people that should never pass the driving licence test. Like many girls that I know!

Mauro, twenty-four years old
If they have the political knowledge required, it’s right for them to express their opinions. At any age. When I was sixteen I believed in politics more than today. And I rode a 125 motorbike with gears: to pass to driving a car, was a joke. The important thing is to understand that they have to be prudent.

Elena, twenty years old
I think that if now the sixteen-year-old can vote at the primary elections of the European Union, they should have the possibility to vote for the local election. It doesn't have to be an “ intermittent responsibility”, i's too simple. Four years ago I had different ideas. I don’t care about driving; the scooter was enough at the time.

Sammy, eighteen years old
At sixteen they are not ready to vote. Many young people are not interested in politics. But in driving, oh yes! Also because, when they drive, they have to be careful for the others and for themselves. In this way they become responsible faster.


Interview with Franz Galli, director of a driving school. Q= (question) A= (Answer)
Q: Is it right for you to bring both vote and driving licence to the age of  sixteen?
A: Yes, today’s sixteen-year-old people are like yesterday’s eighteen-year-old. If at sixteen they are considered children to be protected, they shouldn’t ride a scooter or use the internet.
Q: Many times young people are not ready.
A: If at sixteen we are already consumers, I think that we have to take also the responsibilities of voting, that maybe, together with a driving licence, can help this young generation full of complexes , slow-workers and with less ambitious. The real problems are we, the adults, who think young people are foolish in order to feel I indispensable.
Q: But a driving licence and the right of vote to sixteen-year-old youth are convenient for whom? Are they really indispensable?
A: They are indispensable for Italy. When in 1972 the age to vote was lowered from 21 to 18, Italy has been growing in a contemporary sense. This is a new big occasion of growth.