The voting age has been a discussion in many political settings. Even in environments of education, teenagers are becoming more aware of this matter. Some believe they should be able to vote, and others don’t even consider such topics to be important. When looking at the facts, most of them lead to not changing the voting age.
It is actual none sense to argue that the voting age should come down to 16 ! It is outrageous that in our country the voting age is already at 18. A 17 year old does not pay taxes, and is not affected by legislations. Though an 18 year old is fully affected by the laws and legislation. The voting age is an arbitrary legal standard, though it still respects high school graduates to have the full opportunity to be versed into US government and become a us citizen with complete rights. The last time the voting age has changed was when there was a logical and serious reason for 18 year old soldiers fighting in Vietnam to have the right to vote for their leaders.
When arguing maturity, one can say that there is no difference between the level of maturity in an 18 year old and a 17 year old. That 17 year are affected by laws that include driving or drinking.
If we will argue this point that there is no difference of maturity between 17 year old citizens and 18 year old ones. The simple answer is there is no maturity till the age of 25, when the brain has fully developed its prefrontal cortex, and therefore the voting age should be then. This is not the case is this country because the government understands the true difference between 18 and 17 year olds and when their involvement in government is needed. In reality, every other legal age threshold has been increasing not decreasing. Take for example the legal age to drink is 21 and the legal age to drive without an adult is 17 and 18 in stress of 16.
To conclude, lowering the legal age of voting is a decision that will do more harm than good. There is no valid reason to do so. The argument of maturity is not a reasonable one and many points prove against it. Leave the system as it is. Including minors will only put voting into risk.
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