Every four years, the election decides the state of leadership for the next 4 years. In my case, this election determines two years of my late teenage years and two years of my adult life, but I have no voice in determining it. Any election where the term reaches into some part of a person’s adulthood should be voted on by every adult and kid who will become an adult during the term.
In the age of mandated education and mass media, 16-year-olds are educated enough in the political process and current events. Around 16 years old, every kid in California takes a U.S. History course, which teaches them our history and precedents for elections and civic action. At LACES, every student in the school has taken an Ethnic Studies course, which covers the treatment (and mistreatment) of different ethnic groups in the US. Every student in California, or. at least LACES, is well-versed in U.S. History and the importance of the vote. Mass media and cell phones also make for well-informed 16 year olds. They have the necessary information to form reasonable opinions. 2024 16-year-olds are much better informed than 2000s 18 year olds and even a little older.
According to the World Economic Forum, cognitive ability peaks around 35 and declines after 45. There is no age that is too old to vote. A 16-year-old is just as coherent, and usually more coherent than a 80 year old, yet 80, 90, 100 year olds are still allowed to vote. At 16-years old, I feel my cognitive abilities are more than good enough to make informed decisions, and I am certain I am much better equipped to make an informed decision than most people over the age of 75.
Over the last year, the issue of the age of politicians like Joe Biden and Donald Trump has been a major talking point. Questions about Biden’s cognitive ability was the main cause of his exit from the 2024 presidential race. These two are not the only politicians who are called too old. In fact, the average age of a US Senator in 2023 was 65.3 years old, and the
average age of a House representative was 57.9 years old, according to the Pew Research Center. According to the US Census Bureau in 2022, the average age of a person in the US was 38.4 years old. The average senator is almost twice as old as the average citizen. The political establishment needs some new blood and new ideas. If we allow more young people to become engaged in politics, they will be able to keep politicians in tune with the future of America and solve future issues before they erupt.
50 years ago, 16-year-olds were parading around without a care in the world about what was happening in Washington DC or Sacramento. Today, most every 16-year-old opens their phone and sees a little alert, informing them of the breaking news of the day. We are informed on the state of the world, and we deserve to have a say in what happens to the world we are a part of. Voting is the primary way we get to express our opinions, and each and every 16-year-old should be able to express their own unique opinions with their ballot.
