Voting Age

629 Words2 Pages

Voting is an important civic duty that United States citizens earn when they become 18 years old. Some citizens in the United States wish to change this age to 16. Today’s society views 16 year olds as ignorant, care free, and reckless citizens who are definitely not capable of making an appropriate vote. Although some argue there is no such thing as an inappropriate vote, and that voting is not a test of knowledge, it definitely is. As school systems fail to give the required civic education youth needs, 16-year-olds will not be informed to produce quality votes. Imagine 16 year olds who have no preparation, voting for the President of the United States. There needs to be changes within the civics education before the voting age is even questioned. As well as education, 16 year olds also lack responsibility. They are growing up and are under the pressure of peers, family and media sources. With all the pressure and influences resting on their shoulders they should be able to wait two more years for their own opinions and views to develop. While waiting these 16 year olds can also develop a more concerned outlook on politics and become more engaged. Without youth interest in politics lowering the voting age would be useless. For how much work and time is put in to campaigning and engaging youth, the youth should start to show more concern for their government before the efforts are wasted. The civics education in the United States needs to be reevaluated. Few teachers have the knowledge to develop civic literacy within their students, and are not supported in doing so. Today more than half of high school government teachers can not give adequate explanations of civic topics. (Black) In the article “Tomorrow's Citizens,” author ... ... middle of paper ... ... Jan. 2014. Perlman, Merrill. "1971: 18-Year-Olds Get the Vote." New York Times Upfront. 05 Sep. 2011: 24. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 16 Jan. 2014. Shin, Annys. "Takoma's Teen Voters Will Make History." Washington Post. 04 Nov. 2013: B.1. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 15 Jan. 2014. Smith, Heather. "Rock the Vote 2.0." Esquire Vol. 148 No. 6. Dec. 2007: 208. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 15 Jan. 2014. Tisch, Jonathan M. All Together Now: Collaboration and Innovation for Youth Engagement. Rep. The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, 2013. Web. 11 Jan. 2014. Vescera, Zak. "Overcoming Generational Apathy." Vancouver Sun. 27 Mar. 2013: A.13. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 15 Jan. 2014. Wiltshire, Kenneth. "Sweet 16 and Too Immature to Vote." Australian (Canberra). 15 Oct. 2009: 12. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 15 Jan. 2014.

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