Should voting rights match a person’s legal responsibilities?

Children today are growing up in a world that has been influenced by political decisions that were made well before they are ever given the opportunity to contribute to that political process. Decisions regarding education, climate change, technology, and economic opportunity directly impact the current and future generations and will continue to influence the world in which today's youth must live for decades to come. The important issue that is raised by this is: if youth are already a part of the system and are impacted by its decisions, should they not also be given the right to contribute to the decisions that govern that system?.

I think that voting rights should correlate with a person's legal responsibilities because both are a part of participating in society. Decisions regarding education, climate change, technology and economic opportunity are decisions that will impact today's teenagers more than any other generation in the future decades to come.

Lowering the voting age could also help strengthen the state of democracy. Studies have shown that people who start voting at an early age are more likely to vote for the rest of their lives. Schools could tie the education of politics with the actual experience of voting, so that students could learn politics not just in theory but also in the sense that they can actually participate in it. This could encourage more critical thinking and responsibility for the state of society.

Some people would say that young people are not yet mature or informed enough to make informed decisions regarding politics. However, it should be noted that political information does not come at the age of eighteen. Many people vote at the age of eighteen with no information at all. But no one questions their right to vote. The answer is not the denial of the right to vote but the provision of information for all people.

Democracy is best practised when it involves all the people who are affected by it. Therefore, if teenagers are given the responsibility of voting, then they should also be given the representation.