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Should the voting age be 18
The importance of the voting age
Is voting for young people? by Martin P. Wattenberg
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In America turning 18 is a big deal because you then become an adult and can do more things then you could before. For example, you can now vote. It's one of the many disadvantages of being younger than 18, which is why I believe the voting age should in fact be lowered to 16. While there is truth in the fact that older people are more a custom to voting as shown by the 70% of older people who participated in voting from 1948 to 2012, that was 4 years ago and since then the younger community of people have started to show more intrest in political problems because by the age of 16 those things start to affect us as well. We are starting to realize our real world problems and are becoming more familiar with Americas politics. It's not only
In chapter one, Wattenberg discusses the declining trends of Americans who regularly read newspapers between the 1960’s and present day. This can be attributed the aging patterns among generations who frequently read newspapers as well as with the use of technology rising. Reading the newspaper is a habit that either is or is not developed by the time one reaches voting age. With this, newspapers have become an older generation’s primary source of information, however, are still the best source for political matters. Younger generations tend to be more computer literate and have grown up with television and media more accessible to them than the previous generation. These trends not only reflect in American culture, but in other countries worldwide such as Italy, and Germany. Quoting a 2003 fox news interview of President Bush, Wattenberg illustrates the vast decline of newspaper consumption; even the U.S. President isn’t reading newspapers (11). Using tables throughout chapter one to illustrate the drastic differences within the last 50 years, the author exemplifies a 35% point decrease from 1957 to 2004. He speculates that perhaps young adults don’t like to read, but proves that is not the case as surveys have shown that education levels have risen overall, and access to books and reading has also increased over the years; thereby concluding that young people read, but do not typically read the newspaper. While there are several newspaper websites available, young adults do not frequently read those websites either. Although TV news information is not as detailed as it is in newspapers, young people have an ability to make up for their disinterest in newspapers by watching the news headlines (30). Chapter one makes a strong case...
Research has brought about an abundance of reasons why youth are becoming less engaged in the political process. Education, absence of political knowledge, the media and family influence, indifference to election campaigns, inadequate amount of change, and lack of motivation are all possible factors in influencing the youth voter turnout.
The age of responsibility could not make sense at 18 because of all the rights and responsibilities that are given at age 18 such as financial decisions and college and moving out of the house, but their are still so many things that 18 year olds cannot do such as they still can't rent cars or drink alcohol. “...lowering the legal limit to 18 would only be pushing the drinking problem down to 16-17 year old.” (Wagenaar 17). According to Alexander Wagenaar in Greenblatt’s article lowering the age down to 18 would make drinking a big problem for younger teenagers that are 16 and 17. This could make an even bigger problem in high school because people may say that they are close to the age and they may feel more responsible even though they are not. Therefore, it would not make sense to have 18 be the legal
In “You’re 16, You’re Beautiful and You’re a Voter,” author Anya Kamenetz states her belief that the voting age should be lowered to sixteen. Kamenetz gives several premises to her argument.
One issue that has been a major topic of discussion recently is voting for upcoming elections. I read an article recently by Catherine Rampell called “ Where are all the Young Voters?” where she discusses how millennials are the group least likely to vote. She also states that all generations seem to be voting less but the amount of millennials voting seems to be in a severe decline. Rampell goes on to explain that millennials not wanting to vote does not seem to fit their status as being “socially conscious”.
...as quoted as saying, “It’s virtually impossible to take back the House or win the presidency without taking back the seniors. That makes them the key battleground…” In the upcoming decade there will be over 76 million baby boomers that will be over 65 that mean they will have more power then any other voting cohort in America. This means the attention that the senior vote is getting will become stronger and stronger. Older people are more likely to vote that are younger people this means that seniors can be their own advocate. Seniors can be their own advocates by voting people into office that will vote their way on important issues. Voting is a powerful instrument for all people but is often overlooked.
Those who attend college take classes that broaden their knowledge of politics and issues that the government is trying to solve. The more years of education one receives correlates with higher income earnings which leads to higher voter participation in comparison to someone who has merely a high school diploma. Also, older citizens are more likely to vote than the youth because they care about how the
Imagine this; it is election day in town and everyone who is old enough to vote
Minimum Voting Age: Should it be lowered? Have you ever wanted to do something that you felt was important and could change the world around you, but it was just out of your reach? Many teenagers feel this way about voting. The minimum voting age should be lowered to 16 instead of 18 because if you are old enough to get a job, be a primary caregiver, and pay taxes you should be considered eligible to vote. (Gillespie)
We all have kids, as we once were kids ourselves, at a young age I never wanted to vote as I am sure most people did not either. Having to leave home to vote was a factor and having to follow the whole political process. Nobody wants to leave from there house to wait in lines just to place a vote even more so if they are younger and have plans or no time. With that being said lowering the age group of voting to under 18 is useless as is shown In the essay " Keep the Voting age at 18" states that " A U.S Census Bureau report only 38% of voters in the 18-24 age group voted in 2012. " Therefore anyone under the age of 18 is 50% likely to not show up either.
Lowing the voting age would instantly increase the number of voters, by 70 to 80 %. 18 to 16 years of age will improve voters turnout, laws, and more law makers ideals. However in other countries,voting at a young age is at a very high particpation. Amercians rank at the lowest, although we are the the land of the free and the land of the braves. Voting at a young age will also, put our country at risk. Law makers will be brieving under age voters to vote for them for exchange of gifts. All sorts of things mite happen, to our country due to the fact most young people from the age 16 to 18 are not responsible. Most of my essay sounds a bit silly , but the facts are true. Having younger voters to vote is a very good ideal if you ask me. There
I beileve the voting age should be kept at 18 for various reason. At age 18 you're legally considered as an adult, have to pay taxes, rent, get a job but more importantly be on your own. You're parents aren't going to be there for you like when you were younger.
It is important for people to vote, but age is a conflict. Originally the voting age was twenty one, then it was lowered to eighteen, which is the current voting age. Now the government and the people of the United States have started to think about lowering the voting age to sixteen. Sixteen year olds are still influenced by other people’s opinions and are not thinking with their own minds. Many sixteen year olds can be immature.
18 year olds are making a big transition from depending on their parents for everything to now having to depend on themselves. This means finding a job, going to college on your own, planning to get your own place sometime, making important decisions that would benefit your future and so on. Annys Shin also has a similar point in her article that states, “many of the teens are in the midst of leaving their childhood homes.” Similarly to what I said, teens have way too much pressure when the time comes to become independent. When I leave high school, I am not really going to focus on anything political to be quite honest with you and this is why. As I transition from highschool to college, I am going to have way more responsibilities than the mini ones I had when I was in highschool. The two key responsibilities that I will have and focus on entirely are getting a job in order to help my dad out economically and going to college in order to make a better future for myself. I am not going to care on who is president because no president will be able to stop me from doing what I have to do or close any doors on me. Not even Donald Trump because first of all I have laws that protect
Elected officials notice who is voting and take time to listen to what they have to say. For example, the highest voter turnout comes from those ages 65 and older (U.S. Census). That is why some of the more talked about issues in government are social security and health care. These voters are voicing their opinions and our congressmen, representatives, and others are listening. Imagine what would happen if younger citizens began voting.