Play our voting game
Game | This activity is for everyone
We have created a game to find out what young people think about lowering the voting age.
The game has 11 quick questions and takes just a few minutes to complete. Click the link below to play and share your views (this will open a new page outside the festival).
Your responses are completely anonymous and will help shape future Topical Talk activities. We’ll share the results in a few weeks.
What next?
Once you have played the game, come back to the festival and ask a question to one of this week’s key voices.
Comments (38)
Topical talk, your opinion based game is a very good way to express yourself, i love the way to put questions that really speak to us and are a good way for us to express ourselves and our different views.
I think it is a good idea because we need to tell who is our leader and it helps us know who are leaders are
What I understand from this game is we need to know which kind of leader needed of every problem
A leader is someone who can take lead and voting is choosing a leader. Before choosing a leader we should have:
accurate polities new from social media and news stories that shows on TV.
Health care is a problem because many people don't have money to pay this fee but a good leader can solve this problem .
I believe that lowering the voting age is good because many 16 and 17 years old do have life experiences some have businesses and jobs and don't have the right to vote and it is not fair and also have a understanding of what is happening than adult
I agree because this game shows us like which leader we would vote for because I definitely would not vote for someone I have never heard of because if I was voting for Kemi Badanok and then someone told me that I should vote for someone i have no clue about it wouldn’t make sense because I don’t know them cause they could be the worst leader ever and they would be leader.
I have never really had interest for the news due to reasons and does reasons are i get angry and worried when i hear news so i stopped hearing it totally so that i prevent getting pissed off so most of those question i answered on a different view.
i think you should just try to get some information form the news because young people cant vote because of ignorance of what happens in their society just like you said you don't like listening to news. The economy illiteracy is more on young ones that is why i don't still accept the fact that citizens younger than the age 18 should not vote.
But come to think of it another part of me feels like it is not all about the age but maturity and emotional stability, because some younger citizens tend to think and reason even more than their elders but that number of specie might be smaller than those who dare less concerned about politics.
actually, citizens of any age can actually cast their vote so far as they know the basis and are interested in election because some children are even smarter than you would think.
In conclusion, practical_ibex, i think that you should try to listen to news , you will find it interesting
Let's be real, the debate over the voting age isn't just about 'age', it's about 'awareness.' I mean, there are 40-year-olds who believe every rumor on WhatsApp, while some 16-year-olds understand the climate crisis and economics better than half of society. Why don't we think outside the box? Instead of a fixed age, Why not link voting to a 'civic awareness license' we get at school? Let us try voting in local or city council elections as a 'test run'. This way, we give a chance to those who actually care, while protecting politics from the emotional hype of social media. At the end of the day, if someone works and pays taxes at 16, it's a shame they don't have a say in their country's budget. Do you think if this happened, politicians would actually care about our problems, or would they just treat us like an election 'trend'?
Age is just a number; awareness is a choice. If 16 is old enough to work, pay taxes , and be legally responsible, it's definitely old enough to help shape the future. Instead of asking are they ready? we should ask has our education system prepared them to be citizens, not just employees? Democracy needs fresh blood, not just countdown to 18
Do You think the problem is really youth awareness, or is it the political system's fear of a generation that isn't easily controlled?
I totally agree with you loved_antelope. Why don't we think? It will be better if 16-year-olds and 17-year-olds to be allowed to vote because, if we only limit voting lower ages to vote, we will not have to hear what young people have to say about our problems. I don't think voting has to depend on a person's age because, like you said age is just a number. We need people that care about the problems we have because, with their care, they will be willing to bring out creative and reasonable ideas to resolve a particular problem. For example, Topical Talk is not for just having a conversation, but to hear different opinions and viewpoints so as to voting, we need to hear from everybody because if a person likes something that doesn't mean another person likes it. THANK YOU!.
I do agree with you there are more knowledgeable children than people think and the general concept of 16 year olds and more if given the chance can be proof about children having an idea of their own, thinking for themselves and making important life choices.to me I think that adults are scared of this idea because of lack of control or influence on the children's mind this could open doors to possibilities unknown.plus I think it is only right if children have a hand in the development of the economy it is only right they get to partake in the decision making. afterall at the age of 18 they are leagally allowed to vote what Is the big difference in 2 years of age. Even when adults are given the choice they still choose the wrong things there are corrupt people in politics, but if children are given the chance to vote there is still hope.
In conclusion I think it is only fair at least the idea of children voting should be taking into consideration
Well I agree with what you have said it is not about age it is about awareness and also the fact if 16 year-old could pay taxes, and be legally responsible, they are old enough to shape their future. The fact that you said we should not ask them if they are ready instead we should ask them that has their education system prepared to be citizens who create values not just people waiting to be employed.
I will partly disagree with you because some 16 year-old easily get distracted because of social media. Come to think of it, many 16 year-old are more fascinated by the hypes in social media than following political, social and economic driven programs.
I agree with this person because he is right it does not matter about the voting age if 16 year old's can pay taxes and get a job, they should also be allowed to participate in an election, because they are at an age where this decision will play a massive role in how their lives as adults start, the policies this leader makes are going to impact their lives directly, so what should stop them from deciding who is allowed to make these policies.
I agree because we need people who are aware of their surrounding what is going on around so as to find solutions to the problems around them to avoid repetition. If a 16 year old is aware of what is going on and is mature enough to find solution then why they not allowed to vote. All this things have to with the mind, not just age.
This is such an insightful point.
I think that the issue of minimum and maximum age is a great deal more nuanced than just a simple ban on certain ages.
As you said - 'awareness' over age. Some young voters might be completely aware of the world and political climate - might know more than the average adult voter, while others might not know a thing - and the same can be said for adults and the elderly, which is why I feel the topics of age limits that have been up for discussion are such good discussion topics - due to the multiple layers to each one, the ethics, the opinions behind each person's argument, and the grey areas wherein one's argument can change and adapt the deeper we go into these issues.
I don’t really understand the point of this, because asking our opinions doesn’t give you the answer to who you think we’d vote for? Not that I think, at least. And there was one thing I disliked about that - there wasn’t a non-binary option. Not trying to be picky or annoying, but I just wanted to say.
Thanks for sharing your feedback - we have noted your points. The survey isn't trying to find out who you would vote for, but maybe we should make that clearer!
I think this game shows you that you should do what you want not what your teachers, family or friends want because sometimes influencers on TikTok or YouTube say oh you should do this because blah blah blah and then if you open the comments and they all agree sometimes you go like oh I better change my mind but no don’t let that happen you are voting YOUR opinion NO ONE ELSES! because one day when that gets through your goanna go oh no I didn’t want that happen but too bad cause it already did so STAY WITH YOUR OPINION!
I'm ingenious currant, and I would like to give my opinion after playing this game. The questions make you think about your voting point of view and how things can change, or not, depending on people's decisions. This means each one of us have a lot of responsability in our country and we can't be influenced by others when we are about to vote. Likewise, I still think it's better to wait until teenagers are 18 to take part of elections. Not everyone has the maturity to think and read, before acting and speaking.
I really liked this game because it makes you see people thoughts and also it makes me have clear ideas of what i really want for my country. Before voting people need to be well informed by releable news sources including social media and television to understand what is happening now a days in the society. An example of it, in my country, Spain, it´s necessary a better management of people who come for outside the country and also the health care of the population. If in my country is needed these needs you need to search a political party who offers solutions to solve this problems.
On one hand I support lowering the voting age. Many people of 16-17 years old there are responsible enough for having this privilage of voting and they mostly understand current issues of politics. On the other hand i think many people are not informed enough to vote. They only know what each political party offers because of social media as Tik Tok or because of other people thoughts.
The voting game was really fun letting younger people vote is better so you will see other peoples point of view ( p o v ).
Also letting younger people vote will be benifcial to everyone and you will experience more.
it helpes me to help my to express me voice
I think they should let people who are 16 and 17 vote because, they should be mature enough to be sensible to not get persuaded by these tik tok people who think they know everything but there just putting people off.
I think this game is really comforting because I can share my feelings but an improvement you could make is to let people see what percentage of people agree or disagree
Thanks for the feedback - we hope to share the feedback!
What do I do?
I tried playing the game but it was blocked. I tried scanning the QR cord and it was blocked too! And I'm wondering why. Are there games with this URL? Did a site with this URL do something? What happened to the game?
Thanks for letting us know. We're trying to resolve this for you!
Topical talk i think your game is amazing because it teaches us to express our feelings and that we can vote if we want. it teaches us to understand the world around us and to know that there can be more than one leader. thank you
the game is tying to know how the word around us is so to make it a better place for us to live and for our kids to live in
I personally love the questions and have learnt new things about these politicians. My question is where should we get the news for the best politician to pick in elections? This is because social media is a very simple way that the images of others can be tarnished or made to look nice. However, this to me is a great problem as I may not know who to vote for because the person might be the best, but may look bad based on the social media. I iterate my question again " PLEASE WHERE CAN WE GET THE NEWS FOR THE BEST POLITICIAN TO PICK IN ELECTIONS?"
I think the game helps people to put there opinion in without them writing it in a difficult way because some people might have a disability that might make it hard to read or write there opinions and if they find it hard they might copy someone else’s comment on accident and not know and be sad if it doesn’t get approved cause they might get sad easily and they won’t know why it didn’t get approved that’s why I think the games are important
Topical talk is a opinion based game i think its amazing for expressing yourself i like reading other peoples ideas and its a nice way to speak to people.
i think if 16 or 17 year olds voted the world would be worse than it is right now because kids are not mature enough to vote just yet because their brains have not fully develop to make the right choices. And just to put a whole country in teens hands it would be absurd for the government to do that neither or the current president. If children vote once for the wrong or bad people they would not be able to change it nor try to even hack the system to change their vote to revote for a different president. In conclusion think we should not let 16 and 17 year olds voted.
It is not the voting age that is the actual problem in my opinion, young people that can vote still don't vote because of one issue in every election.
Young people and their ideals are not represented.
Lets look at the USA there are 2 main parties and nothing else, that is not democracy, that is making people chose between a bad choice and a horrible choice, there is no way to win.
That is the reason young people don't vote.
The only way to change this is for elections to actually have representation for young people.
But the only one who can make that happen is us. If we don't do anything we will stay at the bottom of the pecking order in society.
I think games are a great way for us to share our opinions, very good questions.
I think that this is testing our knowledge about prime ministers and the people we know
under 16s should vote as 1.5 million people is a lot of people. this gives every single 16 and 17 the choice to have a say about there country. it puts on more presure for politica party thank you to topical talks as always pls give me a star thanks
Good day guys, I actually love the opinion game that was created because it was not that biased the only thing is that there is no African politician but it is very nice because we could express ourselves freely in the game.
I really love the idea of reducing the voting age to 16 because most people graduate secondary school at the age of 16.
I think it's a good example for everybody around the world to have a say
THANK YOU ECONOMIST
once again hi topical talker this game just reminded me of a saying saying some people learn by experience
now i have understood voting it is not something a small child of 16 can do
it involves serious critical thinking and the economist helped me understand this
THANK YOU ONCE AGAIN ECONOMIST
I think this game was very useful for us to think about politics and understand our opinions.
I believe It was very helpful for all the users to express themselves and share our point of view.
I believe the game had some very interesting questions about politics, and I'm really interested about this issue. I was just very surprised that gender violence was not included, cause is one of the biggest actual problems. There where so many important things in this game, but I got very mad when I noticed I could only choose three options, when practicly all mattered to me. In general, I believe that this game was very helpful, but my opinión in this field is very clear. Young people are not as experienced as olders ones, and I think that can afect radically in their decisión, so I don't think such young people should be able to vote.
You say I'm " too young" to understand the game,
Yet I'm" old enough" for the taxman to know my name.
I've got the responsibilities of a thirty-year-old vet,
But the political rights of a family pet.
You trust me with a steering wheel and a heavy-duty job,
But think a ballot paper makes my teenage brain throb?
If my signature is legal on a contract or a lease,
Why is my voting status stuck on "permanent cease" ?
Stop treating my future like a "wait -and-see" trial,
While you're voting on climates from a dusty old file.
If I'm old enough to work for the "Great National Dream,"
I'm smart enough to pick the captain of the team.
If I'm old enough to fund the state ,I'm smart enough to decide its fate.
#LowerTheAge#LogicCheck
As a teenager, I find it very strange how society keeps saying young people are “not ready” for politics, while at the same time expecting us -"young people"- to care about our future, study hard, and fix the problems older generations created. In school, we’re taught how to research, debate, compare sources, and defend our opinions with evidence all the time. We discuss real issues, not just theories. That’s political thinking, even if adults don’t like calling it that. What really feels unfair is that many adults are allowed to vote without ever questioning where their information comes from. Some people vote based on emotions, rumors, or social media trends, yet no one asks if they are ready. Meanwhile, teenagers who actively follow the news, understand global and local issues, and want to participate are told to wait quietly until an arbitrary birthday. Lowering the voting age wouldn’t damage democracy. Ignoring young people already does. We are the ones who will live with decisions about education, the economy, climate change, and job opportunities. If our voices are excluded now, politicians have no real reason to prioritize issues that affect us directly. Instead of assuming young people are irresponsible, maybe we should ask whether the political system is comfortable hearing opinions that challenge the status quo. Young voters don’t just bring energy. They bring accountability. Democracy doesn’t grow stronger by silencing the next generation. It grows when it trusts them.
I think lowering the voting is a really good idea because the things politicians decide now will affect our lives for a long time we already learn about how to government works in our classes so I think many students are already to have a say if we can work part time jobs and contribute to society it only feels fair that we get to help pick the leaders who make the rules for us.
My honest review on this situation quite differs between prefrences and acknowledgement .As a 40 year old person with wife and kids could believe every single post on social media is considered official news , since the amount of misinformation spreading across platforms such as ; Facebook , Twitter and even WhatsApp. The amount of actual knowledge being given to the Internet has decreased hurriedly , making made-up stuff get labeled ,as a "global conflict" . Though the issue of misinformation thought adults is still very tiny, as most adults recognise actual conflicts with ease due to experience and brain development, yet when you show a 40 year old man several videos of misinformation they will likely start believing every single one of them , since their brain is now unable to acknowledge total deceptions, and the more they believe it, the more it spreads.
Yet a 16 year old person could be reading articles about global conflicts, and discussing climate crises. Since they actually get shown true knowledge rather than "internet slop", this depends on their brain as each time your brain gets shown pure facts ,they rely on them and save them as information due to being constantly shown to information.
Overall this depends on what you choose in your own path, if your going to vote as a 16 year old or older you should get your information straight and right , rather than relying on social media and considering it "news" . You should focus on the political advantages, health care, financial management and news surrounding your area to see if they'll be embellised too.
To be honest, the idea that 18 is some magic number for awareness needs a reality check. If 16 is old enough to work, pay taxes, and be held fully responsible under the law, how is it too young to choose who manages your money and your future? We're treated like adults when it's time for duties, but like children when it's time for rights.
At 16, many of us are actually studying law and economics in school, meaning our awareness comes from education, not just waiting for an 18th birthday. Why are we leaving massive decisions about the climate and national debt to people who won't be around to see the fallout, while excluding the generation that will pay the price? It's not just about age; it's about whether the system is afraid of a generation that is too informed to be easily controlled.
In the end democracy needs fresh blood, not just a countdown to 18. The real question isn't whether 16 are ready to vote, but whether the political system is ready for a generation it can't control.
I think that it's a good activity to give our opinion of different things about politics and for express our ideas.I like this game because I never thought some of the questions that ASK there and I really liked to give my opinions of them.
It’s not easy to decide wether to lower the voting age or not because it‘s very individual if it‘s a good idea. On the one hand not every 18 year old is able to think for himself and make thoughtful decisions but on the other hand there are also 16 year Teenagers who want to and are able to vote, so it‘s unfair to not let them. I think it‘s a good idea to give teenagers the chance to vote. Lowering the voting age doesn‘t mean that everyone who is 16 or 17 must vote but they should have the choice to do it if they want to. Otherwise it‘s unfair for young people and their future.
I thought the game was really good and it help understand weather 16 teens and 17 teens should be aloud to vote or not but i do not have much to say about the game because it was short for me .
Did you find anything else interesting?
I think it is a good idea because we can show what we think and what to show your opinion.
Can you tell me some interesting things you learnt?
This game is so interesting. I think it is important to know the different points of view of different people because as you may know, all of us have different perspectives so it really matters their point of view. Also, you will learn something new about other.
So why don’t you play the game?