As Democrats’ voter reform legislation , HR1, continues to make its way through Congress, there has been a new push to add an amendment to the legislation to lower the voting age to 16 years old. The proposal was first pushed by Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., and was recently backed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
As a junior in high school, I know a thing or two about high school-aged teenagers, so I can safely say that this is not a good idea. Most high school students don’t have fully formed political opinions, and most feel apathetic towards the idea of being engaged with politics.
There have been more occasions than I would like to admit where I try and engage someone in a political discussion that ends with them saying, “I just don’t care.” There are some young people who are passionate about the issues, however, just because that crowd is the loudest does not necessarily mean they are representative of the larger sentiment among their peers.
Young people have abysmal voter turnout. The 2018 midterms were supposed to be a record-breaking year for youth voting, and it was, but still only 31% of 18 to 29-year-olds eligible to vote actually cast a ballot. Voters aged 18 to 29 actually made up a smaller portion of the electorate in 2018 than they did in 2016, though the 2018 portion was still higher than 2014. Of course, we should still encourage young people to become civically engaged, but most young people simply do not care about politics no matter how much some want to create the illusion that they do.
Apathy is not the only concern with allowing young people to vote, however. In America, we are considered adults when we hit 18 years of age: we can open up a bank account on our own, get a tattoo, serve on a jury, get married, and vote. If we believe 16-year-olds are mature enough to vote, why would we not allow 16-year-olds get married or open up a bank account of their own as well? Because 16-year-olds really aren’t mature enough to make these sorts of decisions. The prefrontal cortex, the decision-making part of our brains, is not fully formed at age 16. That is why teenagers have a notorious reputation for doing things that are objectively dumb.
Just because young people are affected by some government policy does not mean we should lower the voting age. If we are going to make the new standard that if you are affected by government policy, you get to vote, how much lower should we make the voting age? Fourteen-year-olds are affected by government policy too, as are 4-year-olds, and even fetuses in the womb.
With all of this said, we still need to promote civic engagement among young people — I don’t think anybody is opposed to that. Students should be taking civics classes, and learning how our country works. Rather than lowering the voting age to 16 and throwing them into the political world with no knowledge, maybe it’s best to engage the next generation through education.
I want what is best for this country and I want what is best for my peers. Lowering the voting age to 16 is not best for anyone.
Jack Elbaum is a high school student at Highland Park High School in Illinois.
