Should the Voting Age Be Lowered to 16? (Writing - Izzy)

    Blog Post 3 (Writing): Should the Voting Age Be Lowered to 16?

    The opinion that the young people are changing and will continue to change the world has always been evidently popular, but as time goes on and we enter a time in our country where the meaning of democracy has become twisted and blurry, it matters now more than ever that the younger generations take part in the current political discussions. With every new generation comes a whole new set of problems, adding onto the pile left behind from the previous generation. Each generation must solve the problems created by its previous generation, leaving no time to solve the ones they create themselves. The cycle goes on and on and on, and then we get to today, where our problems pile has become drastically high, a tower that is dangerously close to the tipping point. We must change something so society does not collapse under the stress the government is creating, so for this reason (among others) I strongly believe that the voting age should be lowered to sixteen.
    

    First of all, the age of sixteen is not quite so different from eighteen. And while many believe that they will get to vote at eighteen, some will just barely miss a presidential election because they are only seventeen. This means they would not get to actually vote until they are at least twenty-one, which seems absurd when a friend only a few months older may get to cast their opinion on who should run our country but they cannot because they unfortunately were born in a month that makes it impossible to turn eighteen before the election. Additionally, many people are just heading off to college at eighteen or entering the world in the hopes of pursuing a dream career, but there are also some sixteen year olds who have lived quite different scenarios. In the U.K, the voting age was lowered to sixteen just over this past summer (but will not be put into effect until the next “general election” around 2029) (Morton, Smith, Awomoyi). In an interview directed by Becky Morton from BBC News regarding this change, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner had said, “‘I was a mum at 16, you can go to work, you can pay your taxes and I think that people should have a vote at 16.’” (Morton, Smith, Awomoyi). Rayner is just one of the many people in the world who grew up quickly to care for a child and then receive a steady-income from her job, taking on responsibilities that normally someone over twenty-one would handle. If there are teenagers out in the country who are capable of caring for a child and assuming an adult life, they should have the right to vote at sixteen.
    

    Next, while one may argue that people eighteen and up are more developed and informed, many adults are actually quite misinformed and invest themselves in ideas and political platforms that are based on completely false claims. This problem is becoming more and more apparent as the world’s obsession with social media grows. Students today are more likely to be taught about the dangers of false information/misinformation than adults were when they were younger, especially based on what occurs over social media. Also, according to a PEW Research Center study, only 17% of Americans trust the actions of our country’s government, which is an all time low (PEW). This means that our country is quite divided, crumbling and falling apart because the people cannot even trust our own representatives to make the right decisions. If the young people were able to voice their opinions and go out and vote, there would be less division among the Americans and more confidence in the government’s actions because there is a more equal say between the older and younger generations.

    Finally, the most obvious reason: we need as many young people to vote as possible because we will be around for longer than the older generations! Generations such as Baby Boomers and even Gen X don’t have to consider how their vote will affect their lives for much longer because they don’t have as much life to live as we do. Our generations are evidently more focused on how our actions will concern our future and the future generations. According to PEW, only 57% of U.S. adults believe that climate change is a serious problem. 88% of young people ages 18-39 believe climate change is a serious or somewhat serious problem and 75% of adults 40+ years old believe climate change is a serious or somewhat serious problem (Lipka, Alper, Nortey). The evidence speaks for itself: the younger generations clearly care more about the impact of climate change and acknowledging our mistakes. The same PEW article states that “Young people around the world have been at the forefront of climate change protests, and in the United States, adults under 40 are considerably more likely than their elders to express concern about the issue and attribute it to human activity.” (Lipka, Alper, Nortey). Essentially, we will be the change, but we need to have a say in who runs our government to make those changes for the better. Another side note is that sixteen-year olds are most often still living with their parents, compared to eighteen year-olds who are either in college or living in the world, working. When parents vote, it is more likely for the teen to vote as well because the parents are incentivizing their teen through setting the example. Whereas, eighteen-year olds must find time in their busy schedules and make the decision to get out there and vote themselves. Who will be more likely to actually go and cast their vote? The busy student/worker or the teen who is watching as the country is crumbling before their eyes, wanting, needing to do something to change the course of history? 

    The truth is, young people are changing the world and our country for the better, even without the ability to vote. We are becoming activists and young leaders, heads of organizations and charities. But imagine what we could do if we could vote? Now more than ever, our voice is critical in slowing down problems such as climate change and addressing the poverty and health crises of our country. Who knows what the future may hold, but I see a scary one in which we may even lose the ability to vote at all. We can’t lose our democracy, and we will be a part of the conversation.

Sources:

Morton, Becky, Smith, Adam, and Awomoyi, Jonelle. “Voting age to be lowered to 16 by next general election”, BBC, July 17, 2025, https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c628ep4j5kno 

“Public Trust in Government: 1958-2025.” Pew Research Center, December 4, 2025, https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2025/12/04/public-trust-in-government-1958-2025/?_gl=1*15sf9vr*_up*MQ..*_gs*MQ..&gclid=CjwKCAiA0eTJBhBaEiwA-Pa-hZH5DrAEtEsyXiLM3R2Nrn9NLa7N6DnFAgA39sxiGjb_ryxaUjtXHRoCX8MQAvD_BwE&gbraid=0AAAAA-ddO9G3L6P6fCdhnOQCLiuMximnQ 

Lipka, Michael, Alper, Becka A., and Nortey, Justin. “Younger evangelicals in the U.S. are more concerned than their elders about climate change.” Pew Research Center, December 7, 2022, https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/12/07/younger-evangelicals-in-the-u-s-are-more-concerned-than-their-elders-about-climate-change/