What if we let the kids vote? It’s the good idea of Conf’kids, which organized the first presidential election for under eighteens. 2,381 young people took part in this original election yesterday, with a result different from that of adults. decryption.
The good idea of Conf’kids
At the origin of the company Conf’kids is a woman, Déborah Le Bloas. Common thread: thinking about the future together with children. For example, it offers conferences and discussions with actors of change, intended for children from 8 years old. The latest project is Children 2022, which invites people under the age of 18 to give their opinion on the candidates for the presidential elections. A special digital platform was created for this and the children had access to all programs.
Déborah Le Bloas explains to us that every proposal from the candidates † was picked up in a neutral manner” by the organizers of the project”in a language accessible to the youngest† Thus informed, the young people under eighteen decided yesterday.
Macron Mélenchon in the second round
Result of the votes: In 1st place, the children chose the current President Emmanuel Macron with 33.8% of the vote. In 2nd place we find Jean-Luc Mélenchon of France Insoumise with 24.9% of the votes. Environmental candidate Yannick Jadot follows with 8.1% of the vote. Marine Le Pen, who received 23.4% of the vote from French adults, received only 6.5% of the vote from children. Note: 9% white votes and 1.9% abstention.
Towards voting rights for 18 years?
It is easy to understand that the vote has an educational value: it has made it possible to introduce 2,381 young people from 6 to 18 years old to an essential stage in democratic life. Why ? † We believe in learning by doing tells us Deborah. The theoretical contribution of citizenship education courses is not enough† It is also by trying to vote that habitual young voters are most likely to register and vote as adults over time. †
The ambition of Children 2022 is also to bring children’s voting rights into the public debate. According to Deborah Le Bloas, “ candidate platforms are designed for voters. By linking children’s suffrage with real education of the latter in social issues, we would allow this electorate to be taken into account in program design. †
We saw it during the climate marches and Friday for Future † from the street to social networks, young people are highly politicized. What would a world look like in which people under the age of 18 had the right to vote?