Should the Voting Age be Changed/Lowered?

[Tessie, Assistant Moderator]

Pierce Samuel ✞︎ (My Girlfriend's Ver.) wrote: "Like I saw notis from this topic and was like "No obviously not" but you've made great points, might need to rethink my stance LOL"

Exact same

[soph ₊˚ෆ (semi-ia) 🍉]

Pierce Samuel ✞︎ (My Girlfriend's Ver.) wrote: "Like I saw notis from this topic and was like "No obviously not" but you've made great points, might need to rethink my stance LOL"

RIGHT THEY WERE SO CONVINCING 😭

[Sage, Assistant Moderator]

Pierce Samuel ✞︎ (My Girlfriend's Ver.) wrote: "Sage wrote: "Leading up to the American revolution, one thing tipped America’s early colonists over the edge—and tipped their tea over the edge of their boats, too. One cry rang out above the other..."

thanksss

[Sage, Assistant Moderator]

Pierce Samuel ✞︎ (My Girlfriend's Ver.) wrote: "Like I saw notis from this topic and was like "No obviously not" but you've made great points, might need to rethink my stance LOL"

hehehe I am here to change your mind mwahahahah

[Sage, Assistant Moderator]

oh wait my computer didn't load the other pages there's more compliments 😭thank youuu

[Sage, Assistant Moderator]

lowkey proud of that essay but y'all just made it seem even better

[soph ₊˚ෆ (semi-ia) 🍉]

you should be proud, it was really incredible

[Sai :), Assistant Moderator]

yeahh, it really was
i mean i already agreed but if i didn't i would've been convinced by now

also i'm moving this topic out of the old topics folder and into economics and laws, if anyone disagrees just comment

[maya ۶ৎ⋆.]

i really think we should keep the voting age at 18 (in america, at least) or even consider raising it to 21. here's why:

first off, the brain is still developing in those late teen years. studies show that areas related to decision-making and impulse control don’t fully mature until around 25. so, by bumping the voting age to 21, we’d likely have more informed and responsible voters.

also, turning 18 is a huge transition. many young people are juggling responsibilities like college, jobs, or figuring out their own identities. at that age, opinions can be heavily influenced by friends or social media rather than solid understanding. if we lower the voting age, we might end up with a lot of impulsive decisions instead of thoughtful choices.

plus, civic engagement is about more than just voting. it’s essential that voters are educated about the issues. keeping the age at 18 or raising it means we can focus on better preparing young people to make a real impact with their vote.

finally, a higher voting age could help filter out extremist views that often target younger, less experienced voters. ensuring that voters have more maturity can lead to a more stable political climate and better decision-making overall.

so, in short, i'd advocate for keeping the voting age where it is or even raising it to ensure the country is fostering a more informed and engaged electorate. after all, every vote should count towards a brighter future!

[Tessie, Assistant Moderator]

I agree with Sage in the fact that age doesn’t determine your interest in politics, nor your education.
My parents are in their fifties and forties and still get political information from Joe Rogan and our neighbor who watched Fox News all day. I taught them why a source being biased matters. I would say I’m more educated in the topic of politics than they are. Not all children are like this, but it does prove that age doesn’t always define knowledge.

[Sai :), Assistant Moderator]

being an adult doesn't make you more informed. it only allows your brain to develop, which is critical, but things like peer pressure still heavily affect you, and as tessie said, it in no way means that you will be an educated citizen. adults aren't that different from teens, but teens' voices do matter. they pay taxes, and not only that but allowing them to vote will force politicians to consider the far-reaching and long-term impacts of their policies and take in the opinions of teenagers. and i think someone else said this earlier in the discussion, not all 16-year-olds will vote. heck, a crazy number of adults don't vote. the only reason i even support this is because teens' voices do matter, and politicians should have to acknowledge them.

[ash ³³ ᵈᵘ ᵈᵘ ᵈᵘ]

i believe that 18 is a great age to vote in larger political affairs include the presidential race, congress, governer etc, however local elections, just city board, mayor (even school board for high school) should allow 16 and 17 year olds to vote

[Ophelia ˚࿔]

Mira wrote: "I'd like to chime in and say upbringing also matters. Ss well as like parental views.

My parents raised both my sister and I to form our own thoughts and opinions.

So, yes while my sister and i ..."

Yes! My family was the exact same way, and now I have a lot of different different opinions than my parents, but I have the same general side of opinions if that makes sense

[Sage, Assistant Moderator]

I’ll respond to all the people who think it should stay the same once I’m on my computer cause rn I’m on my phone and it’s a pain to type long messages plus I can’t reply directly to anything

[Sai :), Assistant Moderator]

ashh ³³ ᵈᵘ ᵈᵘ ᵈᵘ wrote: "i believe that 18 is a great age to vote in larger political affairs include the presidential race, congress, governer etc, however local elections, just city board, mayor (even school board for hi..."

we should DEFINITELY be allowed to vote for school board
like no one knows about the issues and conditions of school better than the kids who go there

[Sage, Assistant Moderator]

maya ۶ৎ⋆. wrote: "i really think we should keep the voting age at 18 (in america, at least) or even consider raising it to 21. here's why:

first off, the brain is still developing in those late teen years. studies..."

so I actually address most of those points in my essay on the last page! To your opinion that it should be moved up (this is copy and paste from the last page lol): it shouldn't be moved up. The reason it was moved below 21 was because of the "old enough to fight, old enough to vote" argument. It would be wrong to ignore that and allow 18 year olds to fight for their government but not vote for it

[⋆✧Maddie ✧⋆]

To piggy back one everyone else, teens are stupid. I feel like we can be more easily manipulated to lean a certain way when it comes to certain candidates. Especially when it comes to people's parents/guardians, most of them like their children to have the same views as them rather its religion, political view or something like a football team. They would want their child to vote the same as them especially if they live in the same house as them and probably force their child to vote even if they didn't want to, my parents would. So, I would say no based on that alone. Another reason to say no if because we don't know much about life by the age of 16 or how politics work necessarily. We know the basics but we don't know that much other than what we might learn in a history class or by the people round us. If eel like our opinions start to form for ourselves after we move out and experience life for what it really is, not what were told. I haven't moved out yet nor will I probably move out for a little while but I feel like that is when I will form my own opinions because I will become a bigger part of the economic system. Idk if any of this made sense, sorry if it doesn't lol

[Jupiter (God’s Version ✝️)]

ooh i love the school board ideas! i personally go to a private school where students have a lot of say in what is changed, but i know that not everyone is as priveleged, so i think thats a great idea

[Thibaud]

Here is an interesting article about how elections work in Cuba. It is from Geopolitical Economy which I found through Project Censored.
https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2022/...

In this country at 16 you can legally drive with a license but can't vote. What makes voting more dangerous than driving. Vehicular crash fatalities are the highest in teens, the other is fatalities from guns. They should have more of a say in our system since everything is so politicized these days. While raising the driving age isn't the most popular idea. A concession we can make is lowering the voting age.

[siera 🪷! (xlov’s vers.)]

personally, i feel like if you have a job and you’re paying taxes to the government, you should be allowed to give your opinion on who’s leading it.

[Sage, Assistant Moderator]

siera ᯓ★ (nari’s vers.) (s.ia) wrote: "personally, i feel like if you have a job and you’re paying taxes to the government, you should be allowed to give your opinion on who’s leading it."

THANK you <3 I agree (as stated in my essay lmao it's a page back if you care but feel free to not read it since you agree with it anyway)

[maya ۶ৎ⋆.]

Sage wrote: "maya ۶ৎ⋆. wrote: "i really think we should keep the voting age at 18 (in america, at least) or even consider raising it to 21. here's why:

first off, the brain is still developing in those late t..."

then i suppose that should be raised as well