Sixteen: Too Young To Vote?

Eastenders actress Melissa Suffield, who plays teenager Lucy Beale presents a one-off documentary about whether the voting age should be lowered. She travels all over Britain talking to young people and MPs to investigate whether giving 16-year-olds the right to vote the best way to refresh democracy.

Get ready for change campaigners Laura-Liz, Usman and Adam all took part in the documentary. Laura-Liz gives her account below!

My name is Laura-Liz and I am a campaigner of Get ready for change! I joined over 100 young people form all over England in London to shout about lowering the voting age to 16 a few months ago and its now been turned into a TV programme!

The BBC were working with Melissa Suffield, (who plays Lucy Beale, in Eastenders) about whether 16 year-olds should be allowed the vote or not. Melissa arranged the “Get Your Vote” event, at a secret location in London, on Saturday 13th June. I received an e-mail from CRAE asking if I would like to take part, so I e-mailed the BBC who gave us details of the secret location. We were told to get to Trafalgar Square for 2pm, and to jump into a shape of a human ‘X’ when the whistle was blown.

Young people started arriving ready for the sound of Melissa’s mega phone/whistle, and once we heard it go, all the young people involved in the event jumped in to a human ‘X’. This was followed by everyone forming a large ‘X’ and using big white balloons to make a point. The ‘X’ represents the ‘X’ people use to mark their vote, IF they are allowed to vote!

We also did the ‘conga’ around Trafalgar square, chanting “What do we want? … We want the vote…. When do we want it? … Now!!”. Both events also gained loads spectators. The event was amazing, there was such a diverse range of young people who had come from right across the country, everyone had a great time and got on so well, it was just amazing to see so many young people come together, who all share in the same believe and in order to make our voices heard.

You can view the full documentary here on BBC iplayer until Thursday 13 August

You can also check out their Facebook page here

Click here for information about Votes at 16

Posted on Wednesday, August 12, 2009 in