Juvenile Justice Advocates Wary Of Lowering The Voting Age

In 1971 the United States ratified the 26th Amendment of the constitution lowering the voting age from twenty-one to eighteen and today they are faced with another difficult decision on whether to lower it again. Many young sixteen year-olds want the vote and have many arguments to get it lowered, but the argument against them is strong. There are many experts on teen psychology that have been discussing the topic on whether the teen mind can handle the type of responsibility it takes to vote and whether or not they should have the right to do so. Many argue the fact on maturity level or amount of experience, but the real question is what teenagers really care about getting the right to vote? Will lowering the voting age help today’s society,

They are more likely to choose a candidate on who everyone else likes instead of choosing who they want because they are still young trying to figure out just who they want to be and who they are. In the article “ Juvenile Justice Advocates Wary of Lowering the Voting Age to 16” Youth Justice CEO Marcy Mistrett states,” Lowering the voting age could lead to more teenagers charged as adults in the criminal justice system at a time when D.C. already locks up too many kids under the age of 18. The justification would be that an adolescent mature enough to vote is mature enough to face tougher penalties.” Sixteen year-olds want the right to vote but can they handle the consequences that go with that? Can they handle being tried as an adult if they were ever in a case? Is it really sixteen year-olds that want the right to vote or is it the people who could easily get their votes and make an election an easier win. Mistrett also states,” 16-year-olds probably are not voting ready yet-that

the Article “Vote early, vote often.” mentions , “ Failure to lower the voting age may prevent young people from ever voting (Vote early, vote often.).” Teens want their right to vote, “I want control on what is going to happen in my life, we are the future and we are what this country is going to become (Teel and Redus).” Teel believes that her strong opinion and immovable mind would keep her from being sayed in a political debate. Teens are subject to having to pay taxes to state, local, and federal governments but they do not have any say on how much is taken (Ten Reasons to Lower the Voting Age). Although some believe this many also believe against it. In the exposition ‘Foolish Idea’ it shows that, “ A report released by the group last week notes that 36 percent of eligible voters participated in the 2014 midterm elections. In the same election , 20 percent of 18- to 29-year-old voters actually voted. We shouldn’t be lowering the voting age if we’re not also teaching young people to participate, (Jessen