Should There Be a Minimum Voting Age?

by Lana Cooper

In the United States, a citizen must be 18 years old to vote. However, some believe the voting age should be lowered to sixteen or seventeen, and others still believe there should be no minimum voting age at all, offering a system in which parents first vote for their children until they are old enough to vote themselves. I believe the voting age should stay at 18, and this potential system would create a host of problems.

The development of the brain should be considered when considering voting age, along with responsibilities. The brain does not finish developing until a person reaches their mid-twenties, including the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for many skills, such as decision making (NIMH). Voting is making a decision at its core, so having this part of the brain fully developed is important to making sure a person is making a well-informed decision. Despite the fact the brain is not fully developed at 18, I still believe it should be the voting age as not only is the brain far along the process, it is also the age when citizens are able to be drafted and join the military. At this point, these citizens are able to die fighting for the US, so it is fair that they are able to have their say in who is leading them.

As children, people tend to reflect their parents' political opinions, but their feelings can change as they leave their parents' influence. A study found that the children that are most likely to initially adopt their parents' political views are also the ones most likely to change their views as they engage with politics independently (Dinas). While they are still children, however, they will likely only vote who their parents wish for them to vote for, creating a situation in which those with more children have more sway on the votes. People should not be allowed to vote until they can think independently and are aware that parents and other adults of authority are not always right.

There are also many problems with the proposed system of having parents vote for their children until they are old enough. As mentioned earlier, this would create a society in which those with children have more say on who leads the country. Also, not all children have parents, and not all of those that do have parents have good parents. It would be left to the parents to determine when their children would be old enough to vote for themselves, which could lead to politically active teenagers with different views than their parents to not be able to vote for themselves, which was the reason for lowering the minimum voting age. This system would not work as intended, which is why the minimum voting age should stay at 18.

Works Cited

Dinas, Elias. "Why Does the Apple Fall Far from the Tree? How Early Political Socialization Prompts Parent-Child Dissimilarity." British Journal of Political Science, vol. 44, no. 4, 2014. Cambridge Core, doi:10.1017/S0007123413000033. Accessed May 5 2023.

"The Teen Brain: 7 Things to Know." National Institute of Mental Health, www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/the-teen-brain-7-things-to-know. Accessed 5 May 2023.