NYRA-Nanuet Campaigns to Lower the Voting Age on RNN

RNN did this awesome piece on NYRA-Nanuet: Teen Suffrage Organization's quest to lower the voting age. This aired on January 9, 2009. The chapter has since changed their campaign to push for a voting age of 16 instead of 15 like the story indicates.

Check out NYRA-Nanuet here:
http://teensuffrageorganization.webs.com/

Check out the National Youth Rights Association here:
http://www.youthrights.org

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• lower
• the
• voting
• age
• nyra
• youth
• rights
• democracy
• student
• nyra-nanuet
• teen
• suffrage
• organization

[Slash5977]

You are all dumbasses; it will never work and give up all hope

[RobotShoppingCenter]

Keep voting at 18!16 is far too young!

[dulcefantasia15]

just wait till y'all are 18. relax! lol. i have one more year to go. dont grow up so fast! i mean its obvious these kids are very smart and responsible BUT...not all teenagers at their age are the same or have the same mentality that they do. these kids are very mature..the average 15 yr old just isnt. and by the way they go to my school. haha. they are sophmores now. YEAH ANDREW WIESS!

[TikiWarrior370]

wow, i no them, they're a grade older

[PolemicalCommentary]

Many already are, at 16 or 17 kids can be tried as adults and receive adult sentences... Also, I would only opt for kids to be tried under the same process as adults if they were given the exact same rights... Otherwise we would increase their responsibility without increasing their rights at all, which isn't fair.

[horsesflu]

Here's a question for you, since you seem to think children are responsible and informed enough to dictate the direction of the nation: should children who commit crimes be prosecuted as adults, and receive adult sentences?

[PolemicalCommentary]

Second off, the argument that "kids will vote how their parents instruct them to" has been discussed many times. Similar arguments were given against woman's suffrage, that they would "vote as their husbands instruct"... Voting privacy behind a booth curtain ensures kids can vote any way they choose. Also, the determining factor in a person's choice of political party as ADULTS is most often the political views of the parents. Most people vote how their parents voted.

[PolemicalCommentary]

Ahhhh... You say it's not a generalization then repeat the generalization in next sentence. "MOST youth are not worthy of voting"...  Second even If we accept that , it could be a result of reverse causality - i.e. "15 years olds should not vote because they don't care about politics" - maybe 15 year olds don't care about politics because they cant vote!... If they were allowed to vote, they would be more involved in the democratic process and hence, would be more informed about the issues.

[horsesflu]

It's not a "generalization" - it's a fact. Most youth are not worthy of voting. They are busy being kids (because that's what they are). Granted, there are some youth who would make good voters, but I'm confident in my assertion that just about every 15 year old is too busy being 15 to concern themselves with matters of the nation, nor would they fully grasp the concepts at hand, as well, their minds are too easily swayed by parents and special interests.

Cute rebuttal though.

[PolemicalCommentary]

I would support lowering the voting age. One cannot justify categorically barring youth from voting based on a generalization. That is a "broad generalization" logical fallacy. Even if it were true that most young people were too uninformed to vote, basing a law off of that generalization would be a slap in the face to all young people that ARE competent enough to vote.