Exercise6. Write a paragraph to fit this newspaper headline. Give some details about crime and the court case, using as many words from this unit as is appropriate.

Local girl’s evidence gets mugger two years prison

FOCUS Civil Rights.

Exercise1. What's the right age?Choose the right age for doing the following things

• Get married ________
• Go to war ________
• Vote in an election _______
• Have a sexual relationship _______
• Drink alcohol in a public place ______
• Pay government taxes _________
• Drive a car ________
• Live on your own _______

• What does the law say in your country?
• Is it the same as your opinion?

Exercise2. Read these letters from national newspapers in the UK and find out:

• Who thinks a 16 year old should be considered an adult?
• Who thinks a 16 year old is still a child?
• How old do you have to be to vote in the UK?
• What can you do at 16 in the UK?
• How do the laws for young people compare to the laws in your country?

Letters to the editor

There is a big debate in the UK this year on new laws for young people. The government is going to publish a Voting Age Report soon to decide if 16 year olds should be allowed to vote. Here are some of the views you can read in the newspapers. There is also a lot of discussion on newspaper and television websites too.

Sirs,

I ask readers to consider these facts on voting age:

• Brazil 16
• Cuba 16
• East Timor 17
• Iran 15
• North Korea 17
• Nicaragua 16
• Yugoslavia 16 if employed
• Sudan 17

So why do many people think it strange that 16 year olds in Britain want to vote?

I urge every young person to write to their MP and join the votes at 16 campaign. We have to pay tax, we can go to war for our country and we can get married. So, we should be allowed to vote on the decisions made about our jobs and our country's foreign policies!

Max Brown (Hastings)

Sirs,

Mr. Brown's lists of youngsters voting rights around the globe do little to convince me. How mature are our teenagers? I would not think it a good idea to give the vote to a group of people who mainly live with their parents and spend a great deal of time on the mobile phones and computers that were bought for them. Are these young people aware of what is happening in their own country? How much do they care? I would suggest that a constant diet of rubbish TV, computer games and music will not help them decide if the government are doing a good job. Other European countries have not lowered the voting age because they also recognize that voting in an election requires maturity. The average Western teenager just isn't mature enough and some 18 year olds aren't much better!

Belinda Thompson (London)

Sirs,

Some 16 year olds are not mature enough to have a sexual relationship. The law allows them to have one. Some 16 year olds are not ready to live by themselves but the law says they can walk out the door and live where they want. However, there are also many 16 year olds who are able to have mature relationships, manage their own home and work hard and pay taxes. Just because some of us are not mature at 16 is not a good enough reason to deny the vote to the rest. I really want to vote in the next election and I think I am informed enough to make a good decision. Please give me the vote!

Charlie, 16 (Northampton)