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Sixteen And 17 Year Olds Essay

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Sixteen-and 17-year-olds are, in fact, ideal voters. They have been relatively stationary, are familiar with their communities, have been going to school, and, as a result, are perfectly familiar with the issues that affect them. At 18, however, many young people leave their communities and go away to college or move away from home in search of work. They are expected to vote in communities with which they are not familiar, and they must also learn the ins and outs of the voting process. Those who are two years younger would have a better understanding of local issues and would be more inclined to become involved in the shaping of their communities.

It is easier to carry out voter education and registration through high schools - and attending high school is the last time these young potential voters would all be in one place. It becomes a lot harder to register first-time voters and expose them to the process of what is involved when they aren't affiliated with some kind of an institution.

Sixteen-and 17-year-olds today have many responsibilities that are associated with adulthood. They can drive, get married and have children, yet they are unable to have a say in the type of society those …show more content…

However, Constance A. Flanagan, an expert in adolescent civic and political development at Pennsylvania State University, explains that though "the frontal lobes of adolescents may not be as fully developed as when they are older, this has next to nothing to do with their ability to assess different perspectives on political issues, see competing claims, understand others' points of view [and] see connections between what a particular candidate stands for and how the people in their local community or some other interest group would fare if that candidate is

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