Children’s Suffrage Now

We the people

. Yea right, at first it was effectively “We the white landowning males.” Then the poor, then women, then minorities, so now it’s wethe people, over 18. They are allowed to be beaten, because they are powerless, becausethey have no vote. The argument that they are immature and would not understand theissues could and should be applied to adults. Voting requires a level of reasoning, yet adults are not tested if they possess it. Immature logic andbeing easy to coerce were arguments used in attempts to prevent blacks andwomen from voting as well.

Anyone

can be coerced regardless of age,gender, or race. Given the right conditions.All societies distinguish between an adult phase and a immature phaseof life where rights are curtailed. And no society has managed to produce apeacefully unifying culture. Could there be a link? The 26

amendment lowered voting age which shows that it isarbitrary, or fluctuates. Children as young as 12 get tried as adults. Theargument is made that children are growing and thus their opinions willchange over time. That is of course correct but it is no reason for them to bebarred from voting. Many adults change parties, many adults vote irrationallybecause they liked how one candidate looked in a suit, or because their pettold them to vote a certain way. Many adults throw their votes away oncandidates they know won’t win, or write ins that have no meaning, manyvote for two people, some intentionally. The point is, people make mistakes,and age is really no indicator of how likely a person is to make them. Mentalability varies from person to person. Some are geniuses, some are not. Someare 10 and some are 90.18 year olds if raised traditionally are in many ways new children. Theybridge the gap between the life of school and obedience they haveexperienced all their lives, to the life of decisions and freedom that is entirelynew in their experience. This effect is well known, it’s why many adults lookfondly back on their freshman year of college, their first year not under athumb.

They also laugh at the memory of this awkward stage, and themistakes they made. The traditional American gets two childhoods. And thesecond one they are allowed to vote through, so I say why not the first? Howmany perfectly rational level headed adults do you know? If your experienceis anything like mine, they are in the minority. If you are a citizen, have anopinion, are subject to the rule of law, you should be allowed to vote, period.No rational argument can be made against that position without admitting tosome form of support for totalitarianism or discrimination.People should be allowed to begin participating in the political processas Americans as soon as they demonstrate an interest. Weakness corrupts,some of us had political interest since we were 10. Spending years beingbossed around by the government through the school, makes us lose tastefor the whole country. It makes us cynical. Because we hear all the garbageabout everyone having a voice, while being told not to talk in class. We’retold about freedom of speech only to be punished for being “disrespectful”.We’re expected to know algebra and made to feel stupid if we can’t nameevery president between Washington and Lincoln, yet we’re told that anopinion on healthcare spending is beneath us. And you wonder why half thepopulation doesn't vote. If you treat children like children, the adults theyturn into will act like children.If we started voting soon enough, we wouldn’t have that cynicism, if we had just a little respect as human beings. Churches don't wait, why allowchurches and other organizations with clear political agendas to influencechildren and not let them vote? Do children who grow up in the church notvote in its favor the overwhelming majority of the time?Children also have unique concerns that require representation. I wouldlike to form the children’s lobby, but I know there is no funding for it. I haveto be rich first. Examples of these unique issues are very real. Forexample, children have a much greater stake in environmental policy thanany adult because they will be exposed to the future environment muchlonger than policy makers and polluters both, they should be allowed to votefor the protection of the environment that only they will see.As long as school attendance is compulsory it is unfair to deny childrenthe right to vote in favor of better educational funding. Children daily risktheir lives because of legal threats, and lack of standing. How would you vote