Should we lower the voting age to 14 or 16?

theinfectedmaster

Argument Topic: Yes. I think we should.

I think that 14 would be the better option than 16 because it would give younger people the right to vote, especially with younger people becoming more informed on politics.

jack

theinfectedmaster said:

Should we lower the voting age to 14 or 16?

Hello the: 

Ask yourself why we HAVE a voting age in the first place..  Is it to keep ignorant people from voting?  I think so..  By that metric, we should lower the voting age to 2.

excon

Saint

Argument Topic: No

School systems barley educate students about basic subjects, let alone how to cast a mature ballot. I bring up the topic of schools because education is one of the biggest obstacles a 14 year old would be facing. 14 year olds are just reaching high school and would not have been taught this in middle school. And if the age were brought down to 14, we would have to require teaching this subject during middle school years, where kids would be less likely to understand or even take in the information. Why give a young teenager, who would already have a lot to deal with, even more responsibilities? And what about teens who have no interests in politics but where pressured to vote by an older relative, would that child feel comfortable refusing an authority?  I believe that there are very bright students out in the world who would understand politic, but not every student will excel in this subject. 

JulesKorngold

Argument Topic: 26

We should RAISE the voting age to 26.

• Our brains are not fully developed until the mid-twenties. The brain continues to develop and mature well into the twenties. This means that young people may not have the same level of cognitive maturity as adults when it comes to making important decisions, such as who to vote for.
• Young people are less likely to vote. According to the Pew Research Center, only 47% of 18- to 29-year-olds voted in the 2020 presidential election, compared to 67% of all eligible voters. This suggests that young people are not as engaged in the political process as older adults.
• Young people are more likely to be influenced by others. Young people are still developing their own sense of identity and values. This means that they may be more likely to be influenced by their peers, family, or celebrities when it comes to making decisions about who to vote for.
• Young people are less likely to have a stake in society. Young people are less likely to be homeowners, married, or have children. This means that they may have less of a stake in the outcome of elections.

theinfectedmaster

@JulesKorngold First of all a, when a person's brain fully develops varies from person to person. Some fully develop before 25, and some don't develop until after that. A person's cognitive capacity also reaches adult level by 16.

JulesKorngold

Argument Topic: Totally Wrong

@theinfectedmaster
Research shows the average person reaches full cognitive ability at the age of 35.

I bet you're only 8 years old. 

theinfectedmaster

@JulesKorngold No. I'm actually 21, and I was researching this. A person's cognitive capacity reaches adult level by 16, however, their psychosocial maturity level doesn't reach full maturity until 22 typically.

JulesKorngold

Argument Topic: 35

@theinfectedmaster
You're still wrong.

A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in 2020 found that human cognitive performance peaks at around age 35 and remains stable for about a decade before beginning to decline. The study analyzed data from over 1.6 million chess moves played by professional chess players over the past 130 years. The researchers found that the players' performance increased steadily until they were around 35 years old, at which point it reached a plateau. The players' performance then began to decline after they were around 45 years old.

The researchers believe that the peak in cognitive performance at age 35 is due to a combination of factors, including the development of the prefrontal cortex (the part of the brain responsible for higher-order thinking skills) and the accumulation of knowledge and experience.

Other studies have also found that cognitive performance peaks in midlife. For example, a study published in the journal Nature in 2017 found that fluid intelligence (the ability to think quickly and solve problems) peaks at around age 45.

You shouldn't be voting for sure.