Name:Jaxon Ganchou

Teacher:Mr.Jockers

Class: Period 2

Date: 4/16/20

Lowering the age for voting will change everything

It was the night of the 2016 election.  I went to bed hoping Trump wouldn’t get elected.  When I found out he was, I thought to myself, I would have made the right decision, and that lots of other people like me would too.  

For many reasons, kids should be able to discuss what they want for their country just like their parents do.  The last time the voting age was changed was in 1971, when the U.S congress changed the age from 21 to 18.  Since then, no one has taken the idea of changing the voting age seriously.  I dont know why this happens, becuase research shows that 16 and 17 year olds have the necessary civic knowledge, skills, and cognitive ability to vote responsibly.  Most likely, if the congress saw this information, they would get ideas for changing the age of voting.  But the congress does not want to be fair.

Lowering the voting age has been tryed out in many countries including Austria, Brazil, Argentina, Germany, and the United Kingdom.  Even two cities in Maryland have lowered the voting age to 16.  These places extended the voting rights to 16, so 16 year olds are able to vote in regional, national, and local elections.  They are making the right decision, unlike most  of the U.S.  What could we do?  What we could do is give it a little experiment.  For every town’s next local election, let 16 and 17 year olds vote, and see what happens.  The kids will vote responsibly, and smartly.  If they dont, then there’s nothing that could be done.  A detailed study in voters age and habits in Denmark found that 18 year olds were far more likely to cast their first vote than 19 year olds, so that extra month or year changes everything, and that could be the same with 16 and 17 year olds.  When they are 17, they are more likely to put their first vote than when they are 18.  It’s simple.  The lower the age, the better the votes are.  According to a youthrights.org article, since kids under 18 in some states have adult responsibilities and adult consequences, they are contributing to the community.  So if these 16 and 17 year olds have to do all these things that adults have to do, then why can’t they vote, just like adults do. Change the voting age, for the better.  For us.             

   

 

Word Count:450

 

Works Cited

https://www.fairvote.org/why_should_we_lower_the_voting_age_to_16

http://vote16usa.org/reasons-for-lowing-voting-age-16/

https://www.youthrights.org/issues/voting-age/top-ten-reasons-to-lower-the-voting-age/