Teenage Voting Rights

By: Muhammad H and Alexis T  

          Every elected president of America had one thing in common; they won via the votes of legal American citizens over the age of eighteen. In our definite opinion, we know it should stay this way. We beg to differ that teens posses the knowledge, experience, and interest to participate in national American elections. It is a proven fact that the majority of teenagers are too young and immature to make decisions by themselves and a majority of these teens would end up voting for the same candidate as their parents.

       Firstly, we know that teenagers are largely influenced by their parents, friends, and environment. If they are persuaded to do a small thing such as smoke a cigarette; how can we give them the responsibility of voting for an American leader?  The truth is teenage minds are just beginning to develop the ability to react to situations in a mature manner. Hence the fact they will face a hard time to decide which candidate they would vote for. This would result in them voting for the same candidate as their parents or voting for a candidate due to their ability to speak or their physical appearance. Clearly this is against the American nature to vote. A university professor states: “The trouble is, minors are still largely controlled by their parents, and could be forced into voting their way (although with a private vote they could cheat, many conscientious children would not).”

             Secondly, teenagers should not vote because they simply can not vote. Kids do not posses the experience or even interest to vote in national elections. Professor Arthur Crony states that “They just don’t have the experience to vote wisely. They haven’t experienced the justice system ... or even traffic congestion,” Ten eighth grade students were surveyed being asked two questions. One, should teens vote? Second, who would you vote for and why? The answer for one eighth grader was: “Teenagers should be able to vote” “I would vote for Obama because he is my homeboy” Most kids replied in a similar manner. Therefore, we can conclude that teens do not have the experience, wisdom, or even simple ability to choose a candidate to vote for.

On the other hand, my worthy opponents bring up very logical point on why kids should vote. For one, Professor Albert Hendricks says “Nearly 22% of the high school graduates find the cost of attending college to high. If they vote the decisions about where government money is spent is up to them and considering they are the people of the future this seems like the right way to go.”  Although some people think that the cost of college is high, others understand that the American government provides financial aid or student loans for those graduates who can’t afford to pay for college.

          Other people may argue, demanding to remember “Brown vs. Board of Education”. That was a case where teenagers couldn’t even have a say in something that affected them. This is an understandable concern, due to the fact that teenagers did not have a say however the question is, who won that case? The answer is Brown. Also, some people said that kids are passionate about politics. Honestly, eight out of ten kids would prefer to vote in American Idol then in the national American election.

        As our research and surveying ended we concluded that teenagers do not posses the ability, experience, or interest to participate in the national U.S elections.  Reason being, teenage brains are starting the process to develop and comprehend situations or scenarios in a mature manner. Also, kids would posses any logical motive to elect a candidate for U.S president or any other position, other then the way they publicly speak or their appearance. Due to their lack of knowledge towards the American political system, most kids would end up voting for the same candidate their parents would vote for. This would be the same as having an adult vote more then once. Teenagers still deserve to be children at heart and voting is clearly something for an adult.