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
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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
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
Why? It will give politicians a real true reason to respect the desire of the adolescents wanting to vote. Lowering the voting age could and would be a great idea. This is why the government should consider lowering the voting age to 16 .So young adults, teenagers and adolescent whatever you may call them. Get a chance to choose the right politician in the political election to help then now and later in their future life ahead of them to help them be
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.
In the last federal election only 43 per cent of people under age 34 cast ballots, compared to 65 per cent of older voters. If social media isn’t getting young voters than the question continues of what will. Many do believe it is the schools system that didn’t encourage political movement throughout early childhood. In addition it has been proven that if something is not nurtured at a young age, the chances of it ever being put into action is doubted. Many of the families whose parents voted, the children followed and their children. Therefore, creating a clear pattern if young people didn’t start early the likely hood of them ever starting depends on their demand for change. “It used to be that researchers expected that, as young people got older, they would show up in higher numbers at the ballot box — but the ‘Life Cycle Effect’, as it’s been called, looks like it’s starting to fade. The voters that are not showing up now are not likely to show up later, either. That has dire implications for our
In the article, “A 16 year old is as good as an 18 year olds or a 40 year old at voting” by Laurence Steinberg argues that 16 years old are allowed to vote in parts of South America and Europe and they do just fine. She believes 16 and 17 year olds are reasonable, can get politics information and can make good political decisions. According to Steinberg, someone who pays taxes, has a job, drive and serves in the military, should also be given the right to drink and vote. In addition to that, Steinberg claims that there are people who matures emotionally and intellectually around the ages of 15 and 22 year old. Steinberg disagree that more than 8 million Americans who are under the 18 age are not given the opportunity to vote. While is true
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.
When I was younger I had a babysitter who was in high school. I looked up to her so much and wanted to be a big girl like her and go to high school. Little did I know that when I got that old I would want to be that little girl again. With senior year beginning I’ve been getting hounded with college emails and universities calling to invite me to visit. Having to make the decision of where I want to go to college, what I want to study, and how I’m gonna make all that happen while still being in high school and getting treated like a child is a bit overwhelming. I never realized how overwhelming and stressful senior year would be.
Lowering the voting age would increase youth political participation for many reasons, making it the best course of action to solve our problem. First of all, when people are first able to vote, many people are moving away from home and “they do not see [voting] as a priority” (B.Gallagher, personal communication, April 15, 2016). Lowering the voting age
“On the one hand, turnout among 16- and 17-year-olds was about 10 percentage points below overall turnout. On the other hand, 16- and 17-year-olds were more likely to vote than those aged 18 to 34. The same trend is evident elsewhere too. In Austria – the only European state with votes at 16 for national elections – this age bracket votes less than the entire population but more than the subsequent bracket.” (Alan Renwick and Barney McCay 2015). Politics as a standalone subject would encourage more participation as the combination of lessons about policy, media and up-to-date current affairs would personally relate to the individuals such as parents being fined for truancy, free school meals etc.
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.
Before we talk about lowering the voting age, we need to start offering young citizens more opportunities to acquire political knowledge, skills and experience. Young people rarely
Others might argue that young people are, to a significant degree, lack of enough life experience, less mature than older people, and usually being easily influenced by mood, bias opinion. They raise concerns that the Electoral Commission considers maturity is an essential issue when it comes to the choosing the effective voting age. The young generation lacks social awareness as well as responsibility hence will be biased or can easily be bribed to vote for a specific candidate. Although I agree with the concerns, I still insists that it is too rash to measure the maturity of a person by simply using his or her age. There are some teenagers who possess the understanding, capacities, and motivation of voting than the older people. I agree with
Although, being a teenager myself I do have a clear understanding about the momentous moment certian teeangers in the Montgomery County are being offered, but was it worth the controversy within the government to finally make it happen. A Fred Schultz, elaborated on the issue that the outcome would not be as rewarding for the amount of time that was spent to grant this right to the counties teenagers in order to raise the amount of political participation(Shin). Once the results came trickling in, there seemed to still be an exceedingly low rate for voter turnouts. Montgomery teenagers were simply granted the right, and proved to the county there was no point in doing so since there was little participation from their age group. Not to mention that majority of the sampled teenagers would not take the initiative to register to vote, and even though the county had registration at the Motor Vehicle Registration there is a point that not every teeanger is able to drive legally. Thus, that extra step to increase voter registration amongst teenagers was not beneficial. Giving us the right to vote comes at a cost, and it seems
Younger people ages 18 – 24 have been less likely to vote in the past due to lack of interest, money, or time to go. Also, they just had a lack of information so they just didn’t care to have
The teenagers in today's society are not much different than the teenagers 30 years ago.Some of the aspects of the teen life have changed but the basics remain the same. Every teen in any era has that awkward phase where they are transitioning from a child to a young adult.In that transitional period teens bodys are changing and hormones are raging. adolescence is the biggest transition period you go through in life. when you are a teenager you have that the pressure to fit it and also having an identity crisis. Teenagers are going through a roller coaster of emotions you feel self consistence or depressed. teens have a lot of stress and pressure to deal with social life,school work,and home life it can be overwhelming. As teens we are