A Boston Tea Party …(18 Is To Young)

We have all been there. Reaching the age of 18 means the end of high school and the beginning of college or joining the workforce. It can involve leaving your parents home for good, relocating to a new city, or possibly joining the military. Reaching 18 also means being eligible to vote.

Very few people who turn 18 own a home, have families to feed, or for that matter pay any significant amount of taxes. In this years election it was said that young people would help make the difference in a Kerry election win. Watching newly eligible voters voice their opinions on television got me thinking. Did having young kids with a lack of any true-life experiences voting for a President make my parents generation as nervous as it made me? Does anyone really take seriously what 18 year olds have to say about politics? Why did we pass an amendment that would allow so many young people the right to vote? If you need to be 21 to drink why shouldn’t you be 21 to vote?

If you believe as I do that with age comes wisdom then why should I be comfortable with young kids helping to decide the future President? I am sure when I was that young I felt certain my opinions mattered as much as my mother and father, my grandparents, and my aunts and uncles but now that I am older I can see the errors of that thinking. I wasn’t qualified to vote at the age of 18. I also don’t have an answer for the argument that if an 18 year old can fight for his country than why shouldn’t he be able to vote for the man that sends him to fight. I also accept the argument that many middle aged and senior adults aren’t very well informed when it comes to politics but that is an article for another day. Maybe I am the only one who believes 18 is to young to vote. As I grow older I feel less and less comfortable with the ignorance of youth.