In late February 2018, roughly a week after the mass shooting in Parkland, Florida left 17 students dead, an editorial ran on CNN’s website with a headline that read “Parkland students show why 16-year-olds should be able to vote.”
This editorial of course referred to the surge of political activism that followed the deadly incident. Apparently, pain and suffering is a qualifier for political participation.
Before we go on here, we need to make one thing clear: words cannot express the sympathy we have to the trauma the students in Parkland experienced. These students went through what no person in the civilized world should have to endure. That said, we maintain that it is very problematic when incidents like this are spun around by the media to be some sort of credential for devising public policy.
There are many reasons why 16-year-olds shouldn’t be able to vote. First and foremost, it’s well-documented at this point that the human brain doesn’t fully develop until most people are in their mid-20s. This is partially why young people are more impulsive, and more likely to trust what their teachers say to then instead of exploring potential solutions on their own.
Knowing this, you could almost make the argument that the voting age should be raised, not lowered. But, that’s a conversation for another time.
~ Facts Not Memes
