Should the voting age be lowered?

My local paper has a page written entirely by high school kids every week. That was the topic today so I looked it over. It made me think about issues when I was younger that affected me and I could do nothing about. A lot of things effect kids, education being the most important but also who the President is, is important to every one. There are many local issues, like curfew laws, and "no skateboards any where period" laws that dictate to kids what they can and can't do without them having any say in the matter at all. Talk of an impending draft is very pertinent to todays youth too.

Most people attest that kids can't make informed decisions on such important issues. The argument can be made that many adults can't make informed opinions about the elections either.

I personally believe that 18 is the proper age, but what do you think? I know there are a lot of people under 18 here that should have something to say about this.

I belive that the Voting Age is fine. It was a good idea to put lower it from 21 way back whenbut now. Most kids now, just side with one side or side with the other. They cannot back up their claims nor their ideas on how the government should be run. Im in high school right now and I see ignorance everywhere i swear you people on ATS would be disgusted with the level of ignorants running around yelling GO BUSH or GO KERRY When they couldnt tell you what their stance on abortion is. I think we should leave it......

Lowered? 18 years of age is low enough! When a kid turns adult and making a living on his or her own, away from mommy and daddy, then it's time to make "grown-up" decisions.



[edit on 21/10/04 by Intelearthling]

18 is fine. How low should it go? 5, 10, 15 years old.

It's like the minimum wage, how high do you want to raise it 10,20,30...100 bucks an hour? Just leave that alone also.

The teenage demographic has an outstanding buying power which means they have lots of money which the government wants. Government ussually gives special rights in order to get more money from a certain group. The more money people have the more rights they get.

Originally posted by navajoprophet
They cannot back up their claims nor their ideas on how the government should be run.

Neither can most of the adults.

I believe they should be able to start voting at age 16. If some adults can't vote intelligently maybe some of these youngsters can make up for them. Kids are getting smarter and smarter every generation. Politics affect everyone and those being affected should be able to speak out by voting.

Kids get tried as adults for crimes now right? Then they should Have a right to vote. If they were smart enough to know better and not do the crime, as the courts say, then they should be smart enough to vote.

Age doesnt have as much to do with it as responsibility.

Alexander Tytler said: "A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public purse. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public purse with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship."

What scares me about letting kids vote is that, having nothing of their own, they will vote for the candidate who promises them most "free stuff" (the burden of which the taxpaying grownups will have to shoulder).

I think that the franchise should be limited to property owners who are not on welfare or any other government assistance; how else can we keep the people from merely voting for more and more handouts from Santa Claus?

Good Point "Age doesn't have as much to do with it as responsibility."

As adults we all know it is important to show children and young adults responsibility and a good sense of values. One could argue that by lowering the voting age to 16 you could instill in the youth the value of political participation. For example, schools could help educate students about the process and issues in order to make informed decisions. Also, another benefit may be students get their parents involved in the political process, such as voting. Thus, teaching responsibility to the new voter and parents. Furthermore, if the new voter participates in elections two times before they graduate they develop a habit of voting and increase the overall turnout for elections to come.

However, this will never happen because adults believe the youth do not have enough life experience and understanding of the world. One potential counter to this argument would follow the precedent of one of the main arguments why the voting age was lowered from 21 to 18. ( If we can be drafted and die for country we should be allowed to vote.) If we can be tried as adults for crimes, we should be allowed to vote. The law/government basically classifies the child as an adult in order to have the crime treated as such. In a way, hypocrisy of the law and government to say you have the mental capacity of an adult to be treated like an adult but you don't have the right to vote.

Nope...
we might get eminem as president...

Seriously, teenagers go through an "idealistic" period, which sees them doing stupid things like trying to save trees and gophers etc.

The worst thing would be that they would be taken in by the fake idealism of some of the more manipulative politicians (when i become president I will....) instead of seeing that as the empty words they are...

The voting age should be raised to thirty-five. The voting age was set at twenty-one when twenty-one-year-olds were responsible. Childhood ended at the teens and adolescence was hardly recognized. Now, with so many kids going off to college on their parents' dime, adolescence doesn't end until after graduation and psychologists and social scientists recognize this development.

Lowering the age to eighteen was pushed by the left who want the young and impressionable and the ignorant and drugged and the dead to vote, so their nefarious agendas can be realized.

Being 18 now i liek having the voting age at 18. I mean i am an intellegent voter tho and probly think it is better to have teh voting age at 21. I know i dont want alot of my friends to be making decisions that effect the entire world wow thats scary.

HEck i would even be in favor of a competency test to be eligible to vote. Why do we want stufpid voters??

I would suggest that voting at the age of 18 is the best idea. I do not think it has so much to do with "responsibilities" of the person in question, so much as their ability to make an informed decision based on knowledge. Maybe a better way to set up voting parameters is to have an intelligence test or something of that nature to make sure those that are voting (of any age) know the Constitution and political machine. This would raise the level of knowledge of the "average" voter, and those who do not take the time to learn something about their own government would be left in the cold.

PS- I would also suggest that if one is old enough to die for their country they should be allowed to vote, drink (as much as I am opposed to it), and have all rights of adults. Grady suggested raising the voting age to 35...well...then it would only be fair to raise the entrace age into the military to 35 as well.

Before any right-wing person says something about my comments to the effect of "...then only 18 year old military men can vote"...don't be ignorant. Anyone that is old enough to possibly die for their country, whether they join the military or not, should have the right to vote.