I oppose the idea that the voting age should be lowered to sixteen

First of all, I would like to say that at the age of sixteen, someone is not mature enough to
make such important decisions. A 16-year-old can be easily manipulated or influenced, for
example, most are still living with their parents so they could be easily influenced by their
parent’s voting choices

A lot of people think that because teenagers have interest in civics, they should always be
allowed to vote. That is not always the case. Some teenagers may feel pressured to vote,
because they have the right, and since they are in college, an already stressful time, it could
lead to them snapping under the pressure. It would be better for people to get out of college,
and then vote.

Social scientists Matthew Clayton and DPhil, say that 16- and 17-year-olds wouldn’t be
competent voters because “research in neuroscience suggests that the brain, specifically the
prefrontal cortex, is still undergoing major reconstruction and development during the
teenage years,” and added that the prefrontal cortex is what “enables us to weigh dilemmas,
balance trade-offs and, in short, make reasonable decisions in politics.”

Another thing I would like to mention is that the voting participation between the age ranges
of 18-29 is extremely low, so that would suggest that people aren't ready to vote until later in
life. For example, only 12.5% of 18-year-olds participated in the 2014 midterm election,
compared to 42% of the general population.

To sum it all up I believe that a 16-year-old does not have the maturity of an 18-year-old and
that if we allow them to vote what we would actually be doing is bringing the least politically
informed, the least politically experienced, the least mature in terms of making long-term
judgments and trade-offs, directly into and potentially affecting the voter turnout and results.

Responses:

You said the voting age should be lowered to 16 because teenagers are also citizens and laws
and political measures affect them just as much as they affect adults but that is not true
because, for example, 16-year-olds can’t go to jail.

You also mentioned that 16-year-olds should vote because they are developing their character
and they are trying to blend in our society and we shouldn’t exclude them, but don’t you think
that maybe if they are trying to, as you said blend in, that if we let them vote they will be
conditioned to vote for something that maybe they don’t believe in so that society accepts
them?

(yes, but as I said the youngest voting groups that have the permission to vote don’t do that,
so I believe that giving the youngest the permission to vote will not make them more
interested.)

(I see your point, but it is an undeniable truth that those older will naturally be more mature,
and the more mature a person is the more criteria they have to choose and I believe that if we
want people to vote with sanity those older will do better, but obviously, 16-year-olds are also
capable of doing that but 18-year-olds are more prone to do it.)

(I have to agree with you on that one because I do believe that education will not only help
them to think for their own and not be manipulated but it will also help them to gain interest
in politics which is positive because we want the voting participation to be as high as possible.)