KATE Stickley is a walking retort to the old stereotype about young people being too immature and self-absorbed to be given the vote.

She is currently studying English Literature, Religious Studies, sociology and a year-long course called Free Teaching.

“It’s the theory behind teaching,” she said. “There’s also a 14-hour classroom placement.

“I’m hoping to teach at secondary school or primary school age for a couple of years and then I want to move into the detention centre and prison area.”

Her ambition is partly inspired by a study group discussion about Labelling Theory, part of which is the notion that if a person is labelled often enough and early enough they act according to that label.

“A lot of young people who go into prisons are labelled as deviant and not given as many life chances when they are released,” she said.

“There needs to be a lot more education, not just in the school sense but also in life skills.

“Young people in prison miss out on vital life skills – how to pay bills, how to apply for a mortgage.

“Often they go back to crime because that’s the only reality they understand.

“I would like to teach not only a subject in prisons but also life skills.”

Kate’s mother is a teaching assistant who works with special needs pupils and her father is a manager with BT.

Political issues didn’t play a major role in her life until she began talking with politically-aware fellow students at her college.

She is aware that many older people regard her age group as unengaged with politics, but insists some of the blame for that belongs with politicians themselves.

“The policies of the different political parties are predominantly directed towards the older generation,” she said.

“Politics needs to be made more of a fun, approachable subject.

“The stereotype is that we’re not interested in the local community or the political world, that we’re more interested in social media, partying, getting drunk.

“That puts a lot of young people off politics because they don’t think they’re going to be taken seriously.”

Kate readily acknowledges that social media is a major force in young people’s lives, however, and would like to see politicians make more and better use of the internet, even if it is something as simple as uploading videos to YouTube.

She cites the social media campaigning of former Labour leader Ed Milliband in the run-up to the last General Election, although she admits that older politicians trying to impress young people can sometimes get it wrong.

“There’s a fine line between being uncool and being cool,” she said.

“A lot of politicians need to make the step and acknowledge that they’ll be uncool and almost make fun of themselves.

“A lot of my generation’s humour is taking the mick out of yourself.

“There are a lot of social media figures who make a living making fun out of themselves and their families and friends.”

Kate believes Boris Johnson is a good example of a politician parlaying a great deal of ridicule into certain degree of popularity.

Kate first began thinking in depth about the question of the voting age last year, when a move to lower it was rejected following a debate in the House of Lords.

The issue came to a head for her during mock EU referendum at her college.

“We were talking about how a lot of us couldn’t vote – the younger babies in the year,” she said.

This meant that, say, a person whose 18th birthday fell on the day of the referendum would be able to vote, while somebody just a day younger would not.

Kate believes it would make far more sense to allow a vote to everybody turning 18 during an academic year in which an election is held, even if they were still 17 on polling day.

The campaign is intended to raise awareness of the subject, rather than to produce an immediate change in the law.

Kate rejects arguments invoking maturity, pointing out legal adulthood doesn’t always make a person mature.

“There are a lot of adults who are middle-aged, elderly or in their 20s who are not politically or socially aware,” she said.

“One of my friends is 18 the day after the referendum. How can you say that somebody is not mature, socially aware, politically aware just because of that one day?”

In spite of the stereotyping and other obstacles, Kate would like to see more young people become politically engaged – and to vote whenever they are able.

“To say there’s no point in voting when some people in other countries do not have a vote is very contradictory,” she said.