224
Missouri teens want to lower the voting age to 16 in local and school elections
(news.stlpublicradio.org)
this post was submitted on 23 Jun 2023
224 points (100.0% liked)
Politics
10168 readers
5 users here now
In-depth political discussion from around the world; if it's a political happening, you can post it here.
Guidelines for submissions:
- Where possible, post the original source of information.
- If there is a paywall, you can use alternative sources or provide an archive.today, 12ft.io, etc. link in the body.
- Do not editorialize titles. Preserve the original title when possible; edits for clarity are fine.
- Do not post ragebait or shock stories. These will be removed.
- Do not post tabloid or blogspam stories. These will be removed.
- Social media should be a source of last resort.
These guidelines will be enforced on a know-it-when-I-see-it basis.
Subcommunities on Beehaw:
This community's icon was made by Aaron Schneider, under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Especially since kids who are working are paying taxes. Not that that should be the singular standard that determines voting rights or anything. But it is common for kids to start working at 16. Sometimes even earlier; I think in my state you can start working as early as 14, even in non-farm jobs, but it's super restricted. So not a lot of employers hire under-16yo.
Like in the other way, we let 18yos vote and we know they're basically still kids. What is it now; our brains our still developing into our mid-20s, possibly even further?
I will say, I don't trust 16yos (or 18yos) with much. But I would feel comfortable with them voting on local and school board issues. Because it directly effects them and they should have a say. We trust them driving independently, for better or worse. We trust them to work, often with money and other goods. Why shouldn't we trust them to vote on these issues?
On top of that, in a couple of years after they start working and driving, we (as a country) start trusting them to enter wars. That's a whole other can of worms, but if we already say "in a couple of years, these 16-year-olds can join the military," then why not allow them to vote at 16 versus 18 when it's only a 2-year difference?
Why not 14? It's only a two year difference from 16.
Those two years make a HUGE difference in cognitive ability.
https://myhealth.alberta.ca/Health/Pages/conditions.aspx.
Because working with direct supervision is a far cry from making decisions that affect everyone.
I have a 16yo, bless her heart. No way is she ready to vote. I'd far rather not tax children than give them access to running anything connected to law.
Part of the reason 18yos are "ready" to vote is they ostensibly have a couple years of working under their belt. 16yo have no idea how disconnected from reality they really are. Give them a couple more years to operate under responsibilities, first.