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Scottish Higher English Students 'Troll' Julia Hartley-Brewer Over Exam Extract

The irony is it seems to have encouraged a lot more votes.
George Bowden
By 

Reporter, HuffPost UK

A columnist says she has received abuse from students on Twitter after her arguments against giving 16-year-olds a vote featured in an exam.

Extracts from Julia Hartley-Brewer's opinion piece saying those aged 16 and 17 should not be able to vote in the upcoming EU referendum were included in the Scottish Higher English paper on Thursday.

Columnist and broadcaster Julia Hartley-Brewer pictured last month
Columnist and broadcaster Julia Hartley-Brewer pictured last month
David M. Benett via Getty Images

Hartley-Brewer wrote in the Daily Telegraph: "If my eight year-old can wait to vote, a couple more years isn’t going to do our 16 year-olds any harm."

Perhaps unsurprisingly, this didn't go down well with those taking the AS-level equivalent.

So it turns out that an article written by me has featured in an actual school exam. Good grief. #hellinahandcart https://t.co/5L1YWLZVFW

— Julia Hartley-Brewer (@JuliaHB1) May 5, 2016

Students quickly predicted the coming storm of opinion.

@JuliaHB1 Nearly choked when I saw it! Hundreds of 16+17 yr olds now not your biggest fans. Great article though-Made close reading bearable

— Danyaal Raja MSYP (@DanyaalRajaMSYP) May 5, 2016

Many were, well, thoroughly unimpressed.

Soooo many angry Scottish teenagers tweeting me because an article by me featured in their Higher English exam today. It wasn't *my* fault.

— Julia Hartley-Brewer (@JuliaHB1) May 5, 2016

@JuliaHB1 but it's not going to affect you in the long run, your generation make the decisions and we've to suffer from them.

— J E N N (@JennGlasgow_) May 5, 2016

@JuliaHB1 how are we suppose to grow up when people like you patronise us and tell us we can't make decisions for ourselfs?

— J E N N (@JennGlasgow_) May 5, 2016

@JuliaHB1 tbh ur Twitter feed is currently more immature than 90% of 16 year olds ahaha, thnx for telling us we're not gd enough to vote xx

— laura MOir (@lauraa_moir) May 5, 2016

@JuliaHB1 as a professional 'opinion-giver' should you not have a more educated argument than being patronising

— Ehluss (@ElisMartin1) May 5, 2016

Yet, as Scottish 16 and 17 year olds are able to vote in Scottish elections, many of them reacted to Hartley-Brewer, by, well, voting.

@JuliaHB1 tbh you've just encouraged me to vote now😂😂

— Ãmber:) (@amberxw1) May 5, 2016

@JuliaHB1 you wrote an article that was patronising and unfair. Too bad I voted today 🙊☑️

— Sam Beckwith-Wyman (@sambw_24) May 5, 2016

But the furore didn't change the columnist's mind...

Not a single tweet from an angry Scottish teen today has changed my stance on 16 & 17 year olds voting. Indeed they have confirmed it for me

— Julia Hartley-Brewer (@JuliaHB1) May 5, 2016

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