Mike Hosking: Andrew Becroft's idea of 16-year-olds voting isn't mad, but kids need to be kids

Children's Commissioner and Former Youth Court judge Andrew Becroft has come up with the idea that 16 and 17-year-olds should be able to vote.

It's easy to dismiss this, and ultimately I think I probably do.

But before I got to that conclusion I looked of course to my own kids. As most parents would have worked out, of the collection of 16- and 17-year-olds we have, how many should be voting at this age?

And the answer is one, maybe two. We have four kids in the rough age group. One is 18 so has already voted, but what sort of vote was it? Well, it involved us explaining some of the aspects of MMP to him as we literally walked to the polling booth.

So was that a well-informed educated vote? But then that is the point, isn't it? How many votes are educated votes? How many are put in by people who care, and are passionate, and have thought through where their support lies and why?

And the answer is we don't know. Because at least in part, that is not what democracy is about. Democracy is about participation. Any idiot can vote, and the idiot's vote is as valuable as the brightest and most well researched.

So, on that basis, why would you not let kids vote? Because your argument is they don't have a clue. They don't know what's going on. They don't know who they're voting for, what the parties and politicians stand for. Well maybe not, but then nor do a lot of people over 18, and we don't stop them.

Becroft's plea comes in part because he argues kids don't have a voice, and he's right.

But that's not actually a reason to give them the vote. And this is why ultimately I have concluded that, although his idea isn't mad, it's just a little optimistic.

What we really want is a well-educated, thoughtful voter base. And the wider you spread access, the less likely you are to achieve it. Because the simple reality is most kids don't care, not at 16, and the fact they don't care isn't a bad thing.

Kids need to be kids and kids have other things on their minds. The world will still be there when they're old enough to vote, because ultimately a line has to be drawn. If 18 can be 16, then why can't it be 14, then 12. And at what point does it just get absurd?