Generation X Factor not fit to vote at 16

Although I am in my late 30s – and therefore not exactly over the hill –I feel increasingly depressed about the way so many young people think these days.

While I admit that the image of young people as portrayed by the media may not be accurate, it does seem as though the younger generations care more about celebrity and looks than anything that matters.

There's a risk that their involvement in general elections would be based on the same notions as X Factor. Would they vote for someone because they looked good? Or because they had triumphed over tragedy in some way?

My other reason for believing this to be such a bad idea is – and I'm embarrassed to say it – I remember what I was like as a teenager. I thought I knew everything and that I had all the answers. I was reasonably interested in politics, but that was more to do with the charisma of peers who were politically engaged than a thirst for knowledge or theoretical conviction.

The older you get, the more you realise you don't have all the answers.

Perhaps if we were better at getting young people to care about the issues that affect them we could move in that direction, but we all know what happens when you tell a teenager that something is cool.

You just have to look at my nephew's rejection of my super-cool Neil Young records.

DAVID ASHFORD

Dalziel Place

Edinburgh

Tiffany Jenkins is quite correct: giving votes to children of 16 is ludicrous (Opinion, 12 April).

A recent survey found the great majority to be in favour of free downloading of all music without paying royalties. Previous generations of such teenagers, disciplined by full-time apprenticeships for proper jobs in the real world, were probably more capable of such responsibilities than modern teenagers.

We should increase the voting age limit to 20, and also for buying alcohol, getting married, driving a car and serving in combat roles in the armed forces; and to 30 to become local councillors, 40 for parliamentary candidates, and 50 for bank executives.

JOHN BIRKETT

Horseleys Park

St Andrews