Minimum Voting Age: Should it be lowered? Have you ever wanted to do something that you felt was important and could change the world around you, but it was just out of your reach? Many teenagers feel this way about voting. The minimum voting age should be lowered to 16 instead of 18 because if you are old enough to get a job, be a primary caregiver, and pay taxes you should be considered eligible to vote. (Gillespie) While many believe that 16 is too young to make a big decision like this, young people have many adult responsibilities that grant them the maturity needed to be successful in the electoral voting process. The only argument against 16 year olds voting is that they aren’t old or mature enough. However, children are put into …show more content…
According to the American Association of Caregiving Youth, about 1.4 million children between the ages of 8 and 18 are caregivers nationwide. This is a vast responsibility that requires shrewdness. (when kids are caregivers) In an article from CNN, they state that about 4.7 million teenagers have their own jobs now. This seems to be a very large and growing number considering that most teenagers are thought to be irresponsible and immature. In fact, in 2015 the teenage unemployment rate decreased to 18.1% when just a year earlier it was near 21%. Even though 18.1% is still an immense number, the decrease in unemployment shows that most teenagers do want to work and contribute to society. (Gillespie) While age is a factor in voting, this is not the case when it comes to paying income tax. Many teens who only earn the minimum payment will still have to file for income taxes. Even small part time jobs such as, babysitting, house sitting, dog walking, and even lawn mowing are considered as self-employment. When you are considered to be self-employed, you are then required to pay taxes. (the five most significant things your teen needs to
As becoming the age of 18, people has the chance to start voting. People 18-24 have a lower percentage of voting than other ages. This is because the youth vote has changed over time and the reasons why the youth vote doesn’t want to vote. I will vote in the upcoming elections when I turn of
Most teens are getting jobs at high school ages. They would need a way to get to and from work on their own. More often than not a teens work schedule is not going to coincide with the parent or guardian's schedule. The job would just end up being a hassle for both the teen and the parent taking them. If they have a license, there would not be a problem with getting a job when they can take themselves whenever. Having a job in high school sets you up to be more responsible, builds time management skills, and you can save up college money or money to support yourself.
Today in America, less than half of young voters between the ages of 18 and 24 vote (TheBestColleges.org). What most of these new adults fail to realize, is that their government depends on them to vote and elect new leaders to represent their country. Many of them make excuses to avoid voting, when really, they benefit most from voting.
Laws that young people are forced to obey are passed every day throughout the nation. Some of these laws only affect youth, such as curfew laws and compulsory school attendance laws. Most of these laws affect the whole population and all American citizens. Yet young people have no say in these laws, no say in the legislators that make these laws, no say in politics, no say in the rules that they must abide by. According to the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, young people born in the United States are American citizens and deserving of "equal protection under the law."
I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve asked my parents for money for the movies or for the mall. Usually, they tell me to get a job or to be more responsible with the things I already have. The same thing is true for teens my age all around the world. What’s the solution, you may ask? One word, jobs. What would happen if the legal working age was changed from the average 16 years old to 13 years old?
Although there are 44 million eligible young voters ages 18-29, in 2012 only 45% of them voted. These young people make up one fifth, or 21%, of the eligible voting population, yet they often do not vote. Voting is a tremendous gift! Young people in many other countries around the world have to fight to gain this right. In America, voting is often taken for granted by all age groups, but the youth take it for granted the most.
“Less than 1.4 million teens were employed full time in February, down from more than 4.1 million in June 1978, according to the Labor Department." (US News, Why Teens Are Getting Shut Out of the Workforce) Teens also are having to compete for college scholarships as the amount of people going to college is constantly increasing. In 1980, 12.1 million people were enrolling in college, in 2015, it is estimated that this number for enrollment is 20.24 million. (Statista, US College Enrollment and Projections in Public and Private Institutions) This generation is also being raised straight out of a recession, more families have struggled which could lead to fewer savings and even potentially tapping into their savings to stay afloat. Taking away from any money that could be used to assist their children in things like college, vehicles,
Now I am 13 and I will say that I have no idea about any politics so putting a 18 year old out there to vote for the president is not very smart because there's not very many years between 13 and 18. And people don't know who to vote for unless somebody tells them and then they decide to vote for them. And many people don't know about any politics.
In this article they explain how working can be healthy for teenagers, especially those who know how to balance out their time. If teenagers take the responsibility to time out their schedule and make sure they aren't underworking it can be really beneficial. “Teens who enter adolescence with strong academic interests and goals may work very little during high school, and when they do have jobs, they limit their hours of employment so as to not jeopardize their grades.” These teenagers who work like this also find that the jobs help with the basic skills, for instance “ a wide range of beneficial attributes, such as the capacity to take responsibility, develop time-management skills, overcome shyness with adults, and handle
Most sixteen-year-olds have already had many firsts. Kamenetz states that by the age of sixteen, most people have already had, “first jobs, their first drinks, and first sexual initiations” (Kamenetz). Since they are already given so many responsibilities and opportunities, it would make sense to include an option to vote. Sixteen-year-olds could then add voting to their lists of
As of 2015, if one earns an income of at least $6,300, they are required to pay income tax (Publication 929 (2015)). This includes minors, who cannot vote. While this is the most recent income tax information, minors have always had to pay income taxes. A minor and an adult who earn the same income will end up paying the same amount in taxes despite the inability of the one to vote. Requiring minors to pay income tax is an unjust policy that has the potential to discourage initiative and productivity as well as cause needless financial challenges in lives of minors.
Jobs impact teenagers and that it teaches them about money. At the risk of sounding like a old man, kids these days don't know the value of the dollar. Some people worry that teens with after-school jobs will struggle to find time for homework. Actually, the responsibility of having a job helps teens prioritize their time. Many jobs are only a couple of hour shifts on weeknights.
Parenting methods are different in all families. They can be strict, or lenient, but when one grows into their early teen years, it is time to start thinking. Should a teenager work in High School? In the article “Should teens have part time jobs,” written by Nicole Knepper, she describes how every teenager should have at least a few hours a week at a part time job, because it is the best experience for teens before graduating, and gives some extra money so they do not ask parents to pay their way. In an opposite article named “Working in high school doesn’t pay off the way it used to,” by Allison Schrager, argues differently than Knepper and states that working has died out and it is not worth a teenagers stressed, already busy, life. While working as a teen can be hard, the pros are far greater than cons including the extra money, experience, and people you can meet. This can provide a huge advantage for a teenagers future, and is therefore the obvious better option to participate in a part time job during high school (Greenberger).
• Mexcio current unemployment rate is 4.75 % indacting that its hard to find work so I believe many teens don’t get a partime job. ( don’t know about if teens work a lot or not
Working teaches students about responsibility and also reinforces what they are leaning in school. Having a job while in high school is a catalyst for future responsible actions and thinking. Teens are accountable for work attendent, job perfromance, and customer satisfaction. The attendence is very essential in a work place. Teens will demonstrate the skills they acquire from work whenever they go to work, and it will be evaluated on their evaluation worksheet by their employers. For example, if teens have missed class, they would be mark for absence and it will later affect their grade. Being resposible in early ages is not very easy, some of them need to take time to work on what they are lacking of. Working will make teens feel more confident in life especially in their job performance. Having responsiblity while performing the task is important because teens know what they should and should not do that will help them avoid making mistake at work or it will lead them to satisfy the customers. In fact, students can use what they have been taught in class and apply it to their job skills because studying and practicing always come along way. The more the teens practices, the more they learn from work experiences. No matter how old they are, as far as student...