I think the voting age should be lowered.
I can only think of two arguments why:
In Texas, once you're 17 you are charged with crimes as an adult. Youth should not be subject to adult criminal penalties without having the right to vote.
"What kind of twisted message do we send when we tell youth they are judged mature, responsible adults when they commit murder, but silly, brainless kids when they want to vote? This is a double standard"
-NYRA
My other argument is perhaps the most obvious, taxation without representation. Rebecca Tilsen, age 14, testified to the Minnesota house subcommittee, stating:
"If 16-year-olds are old enough to drink the water polluted by the industries that you regulate, if 16-year-olds are old enough to breathe the air ruined by garbage burners that government built, if 16-year-olds are old enough to walk on the streets made unsafe by terrible drugs and crime policies, if 16-year-olds are old enough to live in poverty in the richest country in the world, if 16-year-olds are old enough to get sick in a country with the worst public health-care programs in the world, and if 16-year-olds are old enough to attend school districts that you underfund, then 16-year-olds are old enough to play a part in making them better."
Do you consider these legitimate arguments? Do you think the voting age should be lowered to 16? If not, then why?
1 comment:
Here is the problem as I see it with what Rebecca Tilsen said all though things could be said by my 5 year old nephew and most could be said by my 6 month old son. Does this mean that they should have the right to vote? NO! Why because children are children. The reason 17 year olds are being tried as adults for murder is because that is not an act that should be taken lightly. The right to vote is just that a right. And until you reach the age that the government considers the age of accountability you don't have that right. Just like you don't have the right to buy cigarettes or alcohol you don't have the right to vote and I don't think that should be changed.
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