Grade 4 and 5 Debate—Should the voting age be lowered to 12 year olds?
On a warm Wednesday afternoon on the 7th of May 2025, CityKidz Debate Club hosted our second annual interschool debate for 2025. The adjudicators were InterSen HODs Mr.Mgobhozi and Mr.Mlotshwa. On the affirmative side of the debate were the Grade 4’s, fresh from the Foundation Phase and the opposing team were the Grade 5’s.
It was a heated engagement between the two teams with many interjections from the audience who had very different opinions. Jodan (the second speaker from the affirmative side) said that; “There are children under the age of 18 who work like adults and have the same responsibilities as them and therefore should have the same right to vote like them.” Many of the Grade 5’s stated that some children may be “voting” under the influence of peer pressure with no understanding of what is happening. Others said that children don’t understand politics at the age of 12 years.
When everyone had made their points, the audience was left surprised and shocked because who would have thought all that information was in those brilliant little minds? The broad vocabulary used by the two teams proves how far they have come. It also shows their growth as debaters and as individual learners.
Congratulations to the Grade 5 winners. The Grade 4’s scored a total of 102 points and the Grade 5’s, a total of 110 points. We applaud our Coordinator, Mr. Thabede, for organising a wonderful programme and to all the speakers for their bravery and public speaking skills.
