Lowering the voting age to 16: a discussion lesson that Korean high schoolers will actually debate

Should the voting age be lowered to 16?

Your side: FOR lowering the voting age

Pick three of these arguments and prepare one supporting sentence for each.

1. If you can work and pay taxes at 16, you should vote on how that money is spent.
2. Sixteen-year-olds are affected by education policy, climate policy, and conscription—they should have a say.
3. Many 16-year-olds are more informed about politics than adults who don't follow the news.
4. Voting teaches responsibility. Starting younger builds better citizens.
5. The brain is still developing at 25, but we let 18-year-olds vote. Where you draw the line is arbitrary.
6. Young people will live with today's decisions longer than older voters—they deserve a voice.

Your side: AGAINST lowering the voting age

Pick three of these arguments and prepare one supporting sentence for each.

1. Most 16-year-olds have no job, pay no taxes, and do not yet live independently.
2. Sixteen-year-olds are still in school and lack life experience to evaluate policy.
3. Younger voters may just vote the way their parents or friends tell them to.
4. The brain's decision-making centers are not fully developed at 16.
5. Eighteen is already the age of legal adulthood for contracts, marriage, and military service—it makes sense to align voting with that.
6. Lowering the age further could lead to even younger ages being proposed later.

Debate format:

• 4-minute rounds
• You will argue against three different opponents
• One partner speaks, one takes notes, you can switch at 2 minutes
• After all debates, we vote on what we actually believe (not the side we argued)