Teens Should Not Be Allowed To Vote Essay

In 1971, the 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, granting eighteen-year-olds the right to vote. Before this landmark decision, citizens of the United States “had to be at least 21 years old” in order to cast their vote in an election (National Constitution Center, n.d.). It was the escalation of the Vietnam War that led to this expansion of voting rights. During the Vietnam War, thousands of eighteen-, nineteen-, and twenty-year-old men were drafted into military service.

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.

The legal voting age should be reduced to 16 instead of 18. We can work, we can join the army, we can even get married at the age of 16, but we can't vote at 16? We can leave school, we can move out of the family house and live on our own independently if we wanted to at the age of 16, but yet we are considered immature and not responsible enough to vote at 16, why?

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

In Anny Shin’s article , “ Takoma Park 16-year-old savors his history making moment at the polls” she explains to us how this 16 year old boy enjoyed being able to do something a lot of young people can't and that is to vote. Takoma City is making a huge step by being the first place a person younger than 18 could vote. As evidence from ,“ Takoma Park 16-year-old savors his history making moment at the polls” , by Anny Shin when she writes, “Ben Miller plans to step into the booth and become at the Takoma Park Community Center and do something that the country’s other 16 year olds can’t: cast a vote in an election”.This is a good idea, because the U.S has low voter turnout rates and if we can lower the age of voters, then we might just see

America has been built on the idea that as citizens, we have the choice to decide what is the best for our country. Millions of Americans cast their vote every election day to make sure their voices are heard on who is going to run their country and what new policies they will bring with them. As stated in Anny Shin’s article, “Takoma Park 16-year-old savors his history-making moment at the polls,” voting is a, “valuable privilege,” in which many don’t realize. In the United States, not every is allowed to vote, only 18-year old citizens are allowed to vote. However the number of 18-year olds voting is very low and this has been an issue in the political for quite a while. The concerns and desires of most millennials are not being expressed as many are not voting. Many, like the city of Takoma have proposed to allow 16 and 17-year olds to vote as they believe that voting among millennials will increase.

In the Article “Takoma Park 16-year-old savors his history making moment at the polls”, written by Annys Shin on November 3, 2013. She describes how a teen named Ben Miller will be one of the first of 16 and 18 years old to step inside of a booth to cast a vote, in the Takoma city. In the article she also talks about the why the chosen age group will have an effect on the voting scores.

Then my junior year of high school is when my beliefs and opinions started to take shape. I became extremely fascinated with politics and landed my first internship with republican State Senator Guy Reschenthaler. I have realized that younger generations follow in the footsteps of their parents in political views but I was different, my parents are both democrats and I am a republican.

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.

The main point according Martin P. Wattenberg in Is Voting For Young People is that young people today do not vote during elections as much compared to other voting groups. Young people today are politically unengaged. “These state patterns of voting participation can be confirmed on the national level by the Census Bureau’s 2010 survey data. Among U.S. citizens under the age of 30 in 2010, only 24 percent reported that they voted.” (Page-188, IVYP) The low attendance of young people voting in Presidential elections indicates that young people do not care enough about politics to participate.

“Young people are interested in politics, and do have faith in the democratic process. Nonetheless, the political system and the established parties and politicians that dominate it, are together failing to

Why vote? This is a major question among many young Americans today. America's youth, does not take the time to read articles, observe the news, or pay attention to presidential debates and campaigns due to their busy schedules. This creates two problems. First, young voters have little knowledge of current issues in the election. Also as a result, they are unaware of the importance of voting. Each presidential election stirs up an old controversy of whether to vote or not to vote. There are many young people who think that voting is not important; I believe that it is. By voting you are exercising your right as an American to voice your opinion, and young Americans need to become aware of this.

1. Only 21 percent of the voting eligible population in 2014 were young adults ages 18-29 (“why student voters matter”, 2016).

When the founding fathers drafted the Constitution their main focus was creating a nation where everyone would be free from the restraints of a controlling government and treated equal. America has always been a nation of freedom, and needs to remain that way. The youth in this country is charged with the task of ensuring that America remains the “land of the free”. Without involvement in politics this is not possible. If youth are to maintain the American ideals of freedom and equality it is imperative that they be involved in politics. Voting every four years for the president, who is more of a figure head than anything else, is simply not enough. Young people need to take a more active role in politics such as running for a political office, local or national. This is the only way they will be able to put their beliefs into action and ensure that America upholds it’s long standing values of freedom and equality. The youth need to start taking action as soon as they are old enough. However, young people need to be educated on politics and be firm in their beliefs before delving into the world of politics. In recent years the youth have shown a trend of disengagement and apathy toward political involvement. According to “The Good Citizen”, a book written by Russell J. Dalton, political analysts and politicians agree that the youth are losing interest in politics and