Editorial

VOTE!  Why aren’t children allowed to vote? Is it because of their lack of life experience? This might be a possible reason behind the 26th Amendment changing the voting age to eighteen, although in perspective, someone over the age of eighteen might not always make the best decisions based on their past experiences. Also, there is no minimum level of education required to cast your vote, therefore, someone who dropped out of school in middle or high school could feasibly cast their ballot as long as they are a legal U.S. citizen, have not committed a crime, are declared sound of mind, and are eighteen years of age. A person who dropped out of school in middle or high school will most likely have a minimal understanding of the election process, and the way our government operates. That someone with such minimal knowledge of the government and the election process would be permitted to vote, simply because they are eighteen, and not a person under the age of eighteen, even if the younger person had more education and understanding of the election process, baffles me. This seems like something that should be addressed in the Constitution, seeing as it is a matter of Equal Opportunity. Is it the desire to grow up too quickly that drives people under the age of eighteen to want to vote? Or is it the desire to take part in the world, the world that they will not just inherit “someday,” but rather the world in which they live in today that drives them? Why should they not have a voice in the decisions that will directly change their lives? Every day, choices are made concerning children, and still, the question remains: Why are children not given an influence? Are children too immature to take the election process seriously? Not necessarily, especially when it is taken into consideration that one a person turns eighteen, they are not automatically more responsible, or any more mature. That a voter must be a certain age is a preposterous violation of rights, this is like stating that just because someone is below the age of eighteen they are incapable of making a decision on which person would be a better leader for our country. There should, of course, be regulations to make sure people understand the voting process. These regulations should not discriminate based upon age, they should instead focus on a person’s understanding of the government. For example, any first-time voter, regardless of age, should be required to take –and complete- a voter’s education class, or a class that explains the way our government works. As long as a person is a legal U.S. citizen, has taken a class to become an informed voter, is not a convicted criminal, and is of sound mind, they should be allowed to cast their ballot come election day, whether they are 14 or 104. ~Samantha