“You’re a kid. You can’t possibly have enough experience to input on these issues,”
said almost every authority figure ever.
Try me.
Hi, I’m a fourteen-year-old girl, and according to most adults in our country, I am not old enough to input on political issues or even voice my own opinion without being ignored, patronized, or asked if I’m on my period.
And even though time and time again I’ve proved that I’m a sensible person, my words are brushed off as the ramblings of a child.
But in less than two years, I will be trusted behind the wheel of a car.
In less than a year, I will get a job and be taxed by the government for having a job.
And yet, I cannot vote for the next four years.
And that leaves the question: At what age does your opinion begin to matter?
Now, you may say: “Your opinion matters now.” But from what I’ve observed, that isn’t the case. Most sixteen-year-olds that I have met have opinions and great input. Should they be ignored?
You may say: But you’re kids.
But that brings up another question: What is the definition of a kid?
Legally, you become an adult at eighteen, but you can be charged with adult crimes before you are legally an adult. In California, it’s sixteen. In Delaware, it’s fourteen to sixteen (depending on the charge.) In Kansas and North Dakota, it’s ten. So, is it fair that in some states, that we can be charged with adult crimes when we are not even legally an adult? No, I don’t believe that it is.
Also, if we lower the voting age to sixteen, there would be more engagement in government classes. Since we are required to learn this, isn’t the message more impactful if we could use it in our daily lives?
Young people have had so many accomplishments before they are even considered adults.
Let’s not forget about Thomas Braille, who invented his eponymous reading system when he was fifteen. Or Tatum O’Neal, winning an Oscar at age ten. Let’s remember Nadia Comeneci, who won three gold medals in the Olympics in 1976 at age fourteen, and seventeen-year-old Malala Yousafzai, who was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2016.
In conclusion, if we can do all these things if we can change the world before we are even adults, we should have a say in our government.
