Throughout the years, younger generations have been given more and more oppurtunities to engage in tasks previously only adults could do. Voting is one such task that should stay with the older generation. Recently, many people have been advocating for the voting age to be lowered from its current status of 18 down to 16. They say this because the percentage of eligible voters that are actually participating is at an all time low. However, decreasing the voting age will just enhance this issue. Furthermore, people who are under the age of 18 tend to be iresponsible and tend to make rash, uninformed decisions. We need an older wiser generation to make the decisions, not the young ones.
First, let's lay the argument of the percentage
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.
Have you ever wondered if the voting age could be lowered? Well there is a huge Controversy on it. Why? Because many young adults, or teenagers, live and have the same responsibility as an adult would .In many peoples opinion, it should be lowered .Many people think the same way, young voices matter.
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.
Some people argue that by allowing younger teens at the age of 16 to vote would only show the lack of civic responsibility the the young teenagers in this society have today. By allowing that it would not help, but only hurt the voting society more. Another thing that would not be benefit the counrty by lower the voting age would be that the percentages would remaine low for the participation of younger voters. Studies have shown that a small percentage of young voter from the ages 18-24 voted in 2012. This shows that young teenagers do not vote at all which supports my opinion on why we should keep the voting age at 18.
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.
Some adults say that we should raise the voting age. Their reasons, however, don't make sense. They say young people don't care, they don't actually vote, or they can't be trusted to vote responsibly. However, not all adults do those things. It is hypocritical of them to accuse young adults of the exact same things that they themselves are doing.
If the voting age was lowered, this would help to fix that issue. As said earlier, 16-year-olds are much more likely to vote than 18-year-olds. Also, they are more likely to continue to vote later in life if they start earlier!
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.
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 my position I agree to lower the age of voting to 16-17 years old because it can raise up the percentage of voting. Many people are not voting because they don't believe it can help them and their community also with the support from 16-17 years old, it can show a huge difference on how the votes are increasing little by little. Also it can gives them experience on what's the voting like. Once they get older, they will know what to do because they registered the vote in an
I personally don't have much political experience because my parents don't vote. Therefore I don't really care much about voting. If kids aren't exposed to politics or informed on why they should vote then I don't believe decreasing the voting age will make much of a difference. If 18-year-olds do not have a high number of votes I don't see how kids younger than that would make a difference. I don't believe lowering the age is solution to increases voters. I think we should focus more on teaching the importance of voting and why it makes a difference so that when they do turn 18 they will understand why they should vote and by understanding that I believe they will be more likely to
By lowering the voting age from 18 to 16 some people suggest improvement of voter turnout. On the other hand the problem is that by doing this there would be a decrease in the participation percentage. Most of the younger people would not take the time to vote; much less take the time to understand what they're voting for.
The younger generation are infamously known for having a low voter turnout for each election. Young adults have a loud voice when it comes to supporting their political stance but the majority of them don't vote so their efforts go to waste. We can see the statistics of voting habits from various age groups where the middle and old aged are exercising their civic duties far more than those who have just recieved this responsiblity. We do need to balance out the young and the old voters, but decreasing the minumum required age will not solve anything as 18 year olds hardly ever vote as is. We should not change the minimum voting age from 18 as it won't increase the demand for citizens to vote, instead we should focus on incentives to make it so people will want participate in the voting process.
Imagine, a world where the young people had a voice in American politics! Probably, a scary thought to some adults. However, what if young people did have a voice, in American politics. In this case, the right to vote. The right to vote has been in an issue, in our culture for years. From people being the opposite sex, to people of a different skin tone. The right to vote has always been the issue, of who could vote. The voting age in America is 18, but the question is, should it be lowered to 15. I do agree the voting age should be lowered to 15. The right to vote is an important right, it would promote political participation and there are no wrong votes.
“Voting is such a poll that could be an ideal way to stimulate real debate about young people's engagement in politics.” (Fact). This quote allows young voters to see how effective voting is for EVERYONE! Why is the voting age 18? “In 1971 the 26th amendment to the U.S Constitution lowered the voting age from 21 to 18.” How come we can’t make a difference and reduce the voting age? In the constitution, it is stated that everyone is treated equally regardless of race, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, and etc. As citizens we have the right to vote, however we are denied this right just because of our age? The voting age should be lowered to 16 because the youth along with politics will be benefited greatly, they are willing and responsible