Should 16-year-olds be given the right to vote? – this is the topic that young people will discuss during the Oxford debate, which will take place at the Town Hall on Wednesday (December, 20). Two teams from high schools from Lublin and Kielce will take part in the event and will present different positions.
Lublin as the European Youth Capital 2023 is an ideal place to hold a debate aimed at drawing attention to the idea of increasing the subjectivity of younger groups of citizens. The idea of lowering the voting age is heating up public opinion, and there are opposing positions on this matter. Therefore, the opinion of the interested party is very important, and this topic could not be omitted in the activities undertaken in our city. I would like to thank the Future for Europe Foundation for the initiative, I warmly welcome all participants of the debate, including students from Kielce, and I wish everyone a discussion at the highest possible level of rhetoric - says Beata Stepaniuk-Kuśmierzak, Deputy Mayor of Lublin for Culture, Sport and Participation, Mayor’s Plenipotentiary for the European Youth Capital.
Two teams of 16-year-olds from the Juliusz Słowacki Secondary School No. 6th in Kielce and the Saint Stanisław Kostka Secondary School No. 21st in Lublin will take part in the Oxford debate. The discussion coordinator will be a councilor of Lublin Youth City Council. Teams of 6 people with a captain will debate in two rounds. The choice of sides was decided by a coin toss. Youth from Lublin will defend the thesis that 16-year-olds should receive voting rights, while youth from Kielce will be in opposition.
The impetus for the debate was the resolution of the European Parliament of May 3, 2022, which appealed to all Member States to provide 16-year-olds with the opportunity to vote in the European Parliament elections in June 2024. Before the resolution, there were three such countries: Austria, Belgium and Malta, Germany also joined last year. In a situation in which the European Union's activities reach the horizon of 2050, it is difficult not to think about including the young generation in the decision-making process, the effects of which will be felt the most by young people - says Dr. Bartłomiej Zapała, President of the Future for Europe Foundation.
The organizers of the Oxford debate in Lublin are the Future for Europe Foundation and the Youth City Council of Lublin.
Oxford debate on "Should 16-year-olds be given the right to vote?" will take place tomorrow (Wednesday, December 20) at 11.30 in room no. 3 in the Town Hall, pl. Łokietka 1.
