Pros And Cons Of Lowering The Voting Age
The policy of lowering the voting age from 18 years old to 16 years old has sparked political debates all over the United States. The main debate has originated from conservative and liberal ideals. The conservatives want to keep the voting age at 18 years old, while the liberals want to lower the voting age to 16 years old. This campaign has even already been successful in two Maryland cities. In Hyattsville and Takoma Park, Maryland, the voting age has been lowered to 17 and 16 years old. (Campaign). The voting age has also been lowered in several other countries.
Considering the miniscule success of the policy already, the subject should be seriously considered nationally. There are several advantages and disadvantages or “pros and …show more content…
Before I researched the topic, I was against it, but seeing several of advantages of the policy changed my mind. I believe that 16-years-olds should have the right to vote because they are given adult responsibilities, but no rights. If someone is expected to pay taxes, they should be able to have a say in who leads their country. I also believe that 16-year-olds will be mature enough to vote. (Campaign). An excerpt from youthrights.org highlights this topic of qualification by saying, “With the voting age at 16 there is the opportunity for new voters to have a greater opportunity to be educated voters as most are in high school. When the voting age is lowered schools will most likely schedule a civics class to coincide with 16 that will introduce the issues and prepare new voters. It stands to reason that these young voters will be better prepared to vote than their elders.” This means that 16-year-olds are more qualified to vote than a good chunk of the adult population. That idea in itself scares people because it means that if younger citizens are more qualified than them, that they are “better” than them. This mainly comes from a conservative point-of-view in which we don’t want anything to change. People might also argue that, “If we lower the age to 16, then why don’t lower it to 12 or 10 or 8?” This idea comes from a scared society afraid of change, because they think it will “ruin” the government. The simple fact is that, there are no wrong votes. Adults and elders can vote for the “wrong” candidate just as much as teenagers
Considering the miniscule success of the policy already, the subject should be seriously considered nationally. There are several advantages and disadvantages or “pros and …show more content…
Before I researched the topic, I was against it, but seeing several of advantages of the policy changed my mind. I believe that 16-years-olds should have the right to vote because they are given adult responsibilities, but no rights. If someone is expected to pay taxes, they should be able to have a say in who leads their country. I also believe that 16-year-olds will be mature enough to vote. (Campaign). An excerpt from youthrights.org highlights this topic of qualification by saying, “With the voting age at 16 there is the opportunity for new voters to have a greater opportunity to be educated voters as most are in high school. When the voting age is lowered schools will most likely schedule a civics class to coincide with 16 that will introduce the issues and prepare new voters. It stands to reason that these young voters will be better prepared to vote than their elders.” This means that 16-year-olds are more qualified to vote than a good chunk of the adult population. That idea in itself scares people because it means that if younger citizens are more qualified than them, that they are “better” than them. This mainly comes from a conservative point-of-view in which we don’t want anything to change. People might also argue that, “If we lower the age to 16, then why don’t lower it to 12 or 10 or 8?” This idea comes from a scared society afraid of change, because they think it will “ruin” the government. The simple fact is that, there are no wrong votes. Adults and elders can vote for the “wrong” candidate just as much as teenagers