In light of rising political tensions in the U.S. for the past few years, teens have increasingly become more and more politically aware and active. Especially with the push for stricter gun laws from students in the past year, young adults have shown they’re interest in having a say in government. This has brought up the question that has been asked for years: should the voting age be lowered from 18 to 16 years old?
Many supporters of lowering the voting age have argued that teens are just as affected by government policies as older adults and that it is their right since many teens are tax payers due to many having jobs. On the other hand, many people are reluctant to lowering the voting age, arguing that 16 year olds aren’t mature enough and lack enough life experiences. In addition, there is concern that lowering the voting age could be benefiting one party over another, seeing that most young people vote as Democrats (Click Here). Due to these conflicting views, some local elections have lowered their voting age to 16, while others remain reluctant.
What do you think? Do you think the voting age should be lowered to 16? How would this affect our government and policies?
Nice post, Katherine. I tend to favor keeping the voting age at 18 because I think (for the most part) kids become more mature in that 2 year period. What do others think? Any teenagers out there who are in favor of voting at 16?
ReplyDeleteI think the voting age is good where it is. At 16 years old kids are still maturing and developing and once kids turn 18 they gain a certain independence. At 18 they have already graduated highschool and have formed their own ideas about politics allowing for them to be successful contributing members of society.
ReplyDelete