Teens: Lower The Voting Age

When you look back and think about the general voting age for people, it’s usually people who are older, not the young 18-year olds. This may be why many people think that letting teens, who are 16 or 17-years old, vote won’t make a difference in the political spectrum. Many people think that teens are inexperienced and won’t understand what they are voting for. Politicians say that there won’t be a better turnout just because we let teens voting. However, teens in the country want to have a say in what their country does- it’s their life that it’s going to affect more than others. If teens had a chance to vote for what they believe in, having the right motivation and desire for it, they could change the political status quo that older generations

The article Takoma Park 16-year old savors his history making moment at the polls by Annys Shin states that although all 16 to 17 year olds have been allowed to vote after they register, “there’s hardly been a rush to the ballot box.” Although, the reason for this might be because they don’t feel the strong motivation for it. According to Shin, “the election is a snore” since “the mayor faces no opposition and just one of the six seats on the City Council was contested.” The lack of there being really anything they would want to vote for makes the low turnout reasonable in my eyes. There is also the problem that some teens just have no “burning issues motivating” them. What many young people lack in voting is the motivation to do something, and if they were to truly have it they would go out and vote. Take Ben Miller, the teen in the article, who said that he didn’t really have anything he was motivated to vote about. When asked if he were to have attended a candidate forum on his own when he couldn’t vote, he said “No way!” Teens are people who need a lot of motivation to do something, and when it’s something they strongly believe in they go all

Some politicians argues that if the council had wanted to boost turnout in voting, “they could have put the issue on the ballot and let the residents decide.”(Shin) However this statement is very ironic. They’re voting on whether or not they should allow other people to vote. Another statement made was that “young people barely old enough to drive a car don’t have enough perspective to vote.” This has no correlation in having knowledge and opinion on an issue or not. Teens know about the issues they care about, they voice out their opinion on social media all the time. Saying that the older generation is more experienced isn’t wrong, they are, but that’s because they have been voting for years now. Starting from a younger age, to begin learning about how to vote seems like a better route to go, confidence in what you are voting for is key