Should People Be Allowed To Vote At 16?

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Hello, so today I am going to present you the pros and cons of allowing voting to be lowered to age 16. This has lately been quite a topical issue, so I didn’t have any difficulties in finding interesting articles varying from for and against stances. I chose one of the latest ones, published on New York Times website on March 2nd, 2018. In the article, the author calls attention toward young people protesting gun violence and demanding gun control, following the latest high school shooting in Parkland, Florida in USA. The ‘March for our lives’ demonstration is a perfect example of mature minors, proving themselves capable of being articulate and political savvy. All of that is leaving onlookers wondering whether they should also be given the …show more content…

Whatever choices politicians are now making will have long-term consequences when now teens will already be adults, have jobs, houses and families. The young people are the future of the world and therefore should have the most say when it comes to important decisions regarding it.
Civic engagement in youth and increased voter turnout. Allowing teenagers to vote at 16 would encourage civic mindedness and a responsibility towards their country. It would establish an interest in voting which would be continued throughout their life because it is easier for young people especially 16-year-olds to pick a habit when they’re in a relatively stable place in their lives. Consequently, it would increase voter turnout. In many local elections in USA, major elections in Norway and Austria 16 and 17-year-olds voted at higher rates than other young voters.
Cons:
Young people tend to be easily swayed by what they hear and see. Teenagers are still in the process of forming their own identity and therefore don’t really have solid beliefs. Their political ideology hasn’t been formed yet, and they are more susceptible to pressure from peers and external influences like cool kids at their school, their parents, charismatic politicians and radical political

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