People make the argument that since sixteen year olds can already marry with a parent’s permission, they should have the right and say in a vote for President. While sixteen year olds can already do so much, this cannot be justified enough to change the age. Lowering the age would allow around one and a half million more people to vote, however, not all of those one and a half million voters would know enough on voting for the President. The voting age should not be changed due to the lack of knowledge in politics exhibited by teens. When holding a survey on a website, “The Student Room Group”, found that just twenty-one percent of students say that the age should be changed to sixteen. This means that just under four out of every five students think the age should stay the same. Students that are for changing the age could possibly know what they are talking about. Even though it isn’t a cool thing or a common hobby to know as a teenager, politics is a very good mechanism to learn in your life. Politics is complex in the ideas that the separate parties believe in. Politics is very important to learn and use in your lifetime, but that …show more content…
When thinking about candidates and what their campaign as a whole is centered around, the majority of the campaign is centered around what matters to the adult standards of voting. This leaves the eighteen year olds just waiting around to make a decision for themselves. When voting, an opinion would be centered around what meets the requirements of the opinion. Weather the beliefs are the same as the opinion, that should grab the vote. If a candidate is for gay marriage and someone is pro-life, this person will not give her vote to this candidate. If the age was lowered to sixteen, candidates might begin to center some of their campaign speeches around the teenage years. Their speeches may contain specific examples to reach out to our younger
The voting age should be increased to 19 or 21 years of age. Most 18 year olds have just graduated or are still in highschool, so many of them are immature,and lack life experience. In addition, many 18 year olds do not have a plan(s) after high school, so if they can’t make a decision about their future what makes people think that they can make an informed decision about the future of the country. However, there are some states like Ohio that are allowing seventeen year olds to vote in primaries.
British dramatist Shakespeare once said that there are a thousand Hamlets in a thousand people’s eyes. Through the ages, controversies about voting age have not quieted down, and there are more and more different opinions about voting age like it should increase to 21, or it should decrease to 17 or 16, even 13. Like a coin has two sides, each opinion has both advantages and disadvantages. In my opinion, I prefer the voting age to be 18 in the United States. Teenagers who are 18 years old are independent enough to make their own decisions, and they should have the vote right as other adults do.
Another reason I think the voting age should not change is because 16 year olds are not as
A very controversial topic in the United States is whether or not Americans should be required to vote. Voting is a very essential piece to democracy, but many Americans today are not attending their voting location and supporting the candidate they feel is best. In recent elections, just 60% of registered voters casted their vote for a candidate. This is an issue that many people are not happy about, but whether or not there is reason to fix it is the other side to the case. Voter participation is an issue that has been going on for years, and no laws are in place currently to bring it up. Americans have been proud to live in a “free country”, and a law forcing citizens to vote may be against America’s principles. Compulsory voting should
Imagine a time where teenagers are allowed to vote on important positions or issues that could possibly define our nation’s future. The average teenager may seem responsible, but would they be able to handle the responsibility of deciding our nation’s fate in the world as well as their own. In the article, “ Takoma Park 16-year-old savors his history making moment at the polls,” Annys Shin, who writes in depth about the historical event as well as shares valued opinions of those who participated in the making of this event, exclaims that the, “ Montgomery County community [was] the nation’s first to lower the voting age from 18 to 16.” This seems to be a test to determine if the nation should lower the voting age completely. However, this test shows varying results, but majority seem to shed some light on the fact that teenagers simply should not take part in voting. The average teenagers seem too young to be mature about issues, are uninterested in what major decisions are made by the government, and are simply being used by their parentals for an extra person support their own beliefs.
I am a huge supporter of the 26th Amendment. At the age of 18, a young adult can make some naïve and immature decisions. But that does not make a case for changing the Amendment. At 18 you can voluntarily join the Military, or any other organizations. When you are 18, you can acquire debt, rent just about anything (not including a car), start a business, and get married on your own free will. So at 18 you have these privileges, the only thing you can’t do is drink legally. An 18 year old should be allowed to vote because there is legislation and laws that can directly affect them. Why would they not be allowed to vote, if these new laws and legislation directly affects them, they pay taxes, pay debts, and fines like everyone else.
If maturity is the issue, it important to take into account that 16 year olds are just as informed as 18 year olds (in some cases more so). In fact there could be many 20, 30, or even 40 year olds who are irresponsible, do not make informed decisions and are clueless; this does not mean we deny them the right vote. Just because they are older necessarily does not mean they know everything in detail about politics because they have more life experience and can make better informed judgements than a 16 year old.
In the article “Takoma Park 16-year-old Savors his History-Making Moment at the Polls,” written by Annys Shin, the author focuses on whether or not lowering the voting age from 18 is a good idea towards politics, by looking at the benefits and the disadvantages of both sides. In 2013, the city of Takoma Park was the first to lower the voting age to 16 and change the 26th Amendment in their municipal. Ben Miller and other 16- and 17-year-olds were capable of stepping into a booth and casting their vote at the Takoma Park Community Center. Allowing this age group to cast a vote will lead more teenagers to vote than their older peers, it will get them into the habit of voting for the rest of their lives, and it will also increase their personal
Allowing teens that are sixteen and seventeen vote is a good idea because many kids have a dream of their own. Ben miller, who is one of the first sixteen years olds to vote stated “it's a valuable privilege”, Which in all ways he's correct not many countries allow their younger generations to vote. After the “26 amendment gave 18-year-olds the right to vote” (shin) the rate of voter registration want up. The younger teenagers are considered more likely to vote than the elders. This showed a small difference in the outturn making it a better chance for whatever candidate to be chosen. Although, Miller did not have a driver's license yet he was still able to vote because of his “pre-register” which allowed him to vote “through the Motor vehicle administration”(shin). Even though his mother was a”writer and whose father does international relief and development work”(shin), he was
In the article, “Takoma Park 16-year-old savors his history-making moment at the polls,” by Annys Shin, many teens who are 16-17 years old can now vote during the election. The decision was made by the Takoma City Council that in Montgomery County Community, they are the first ones in the nation to lower their voting age from 18-16 years old. A group of 350 students from Montgomery Blair High School were granted the right to vote in elections and one of the student who got the right to vote, Ben Miller had said, “ It’s a valuable Privilege,” and he means that it is a great advantage that many 16-17 years old can now vote. Many young adults who are the age of 18 are most likely not a good age to vote because many of them are planning to leave their childhood homes. And they can lack of discipline and causes them not to vote.
One idea that Wattenberg suggests that I disagree with is that young people do not receive enough information to be politically informed. Information concerning politics has never been more available in society then it is today.
For most teenagers turning 16 means an opportunity to drive without supervision and starting college. A new campaign is hoping to give these teenagers the ability to vote in local elections. The Vote16USA aims to reduce the age of voting from the current age of 18 to 16. The objective of this campaign is to promote the participation of youth in politics. The campaign has ignited debate over issues such as the competency of their decision making and whether allowing people as young as 16 is the best way to engage the youth.
Shin writes, “Others predicted that the 16- and 17-year-olds most likely to vote are from politically active homes and are thus likely to amplify the power of an already well-represented group.” This was an unfair generalization as this is not the case of all. This past 2016 presidential election is a prime example. Many of my friends have their own opinions on issues and other topics which largely disagrees with what their parents believe. For example, myself included, many of our parents are pro-life and disagree with the legalization of gay marriage, while many of us are pro-choice and support the LGBTQ+ community. This led to many parents voting for Trump, as he has the same political opinions as them in those topics. None of us could vote for Clinton, even though we were well informed on the issues, because we are all under the legal voting
Suffrage has been a universal right in the works for well over centuries in America. At its inception, the United States of America only let landowning Caucasian men to vote, while excluding minorities and women. With copious amounts of protest, those groups eventually got their suffrage, and now voting is comfortably open to anyone eighteen or older. One would assume that with such open doors for voting, that the vast majority of people would line up at their voting booths and cast their ballots with glee. Much to the detriment of this assumption, voting percentages are painfully low and those that do vote tend to be either incredibly biased towards their political party or too old to see the effects of their votes come into play. Thus, by lowering the voting age to sixteen, there would be more diversity in the ballots, a larger voting turnout consistently, and little to no downside for doing so.
As teens we have a feeling of dreamlike state while simultaneously facing harsh reality. You are floating on a current of confusion, teetering from the teenage wasteland to adulthood. One of the main areas teens are not taken seriously is when it comes to politics. “Without financial power or overt political affiliations, young people are too