Do you think American teens 12-17 should have more rights and say in our society and government?

Question

At those ages I was always wishing I could have more say in the country I live in, I wanted to help and change things but most of the time I had to sit back and watch everything Happen. I know many teens feel this way. I think it might be good to give our younger Americans more input and voice, especially in things like education.

Accepted Answer

Children deserve more rights, however I do not believe they should have the power to make decisions before they know how the government works and that the way they vote, impacts other people. That's a lot of responsibility to put on a 12 year old who probably still thinks Christopher Columbus is this stand up guy. I think 18 is an appropriate voting age. I think that children should be able to have the right to protest, free speech, etc. I know when I was in middle school/high school I stopped wanting to stand for the national anthem in the mornings yet when I didn't I was pressured, called names, yelled at, and teachers humiliated and punished students who didn't stand.

Answer

Teens can say and support any cause they want but there is a reason for a voting age. I don’t know about anyone else but I don’t want kids who are eating tide pods, snorting condoms, and video taping people being hurt for likes on social media, deciding how the rest of the country should live 🤷🏼‍♀️

Answer

I think their thoughts should be taken into consideration. I know a lot of younger people that have much better opinions and ideas than some 40 year olds. But I think that the voting age should stay the same.

Answer

More of a say how?
I don’t agree with lowering the voting age, but I do think listening to teens feedback on issues that effect them is good policy.

Answer

I’m not sure what I think. Yes, there are a lot of kids who are very educated on what’s going on around them and want to be more involved. However, many young kids, especially around 12-15 are still very impressionable and I feel like they like to go with the crowd. I’m not saying they can’t make informed decisions, but I’m just not sure if it’s the best idea. Of course there are still adults out there that aren’t very educated either, so I really don’t know. Good question though!

Answer

Absolutely not.  These children are the ones eating tide pods and snorting condoms...  They clearly do not as a whole, possess the capacity to make any legitimate decisions.

Answer

i wish adults would stop speaking for us and act like we aren’t right behind them. i know quite a few kids do dumb things like taking part of online challenges (aka. tide pod “challenge”), but that doesn’t mean that’s what we’d be like when we’re talking about political topics. teens are aren’t as busy as adults have have time do make this county amazing. i’ve wanted to vote for a long time, but as of right now, i just wish we could have our voices be heard. i can’t even volunteer at my local dog shelter without an adult, which makes me really sad because my parents are never really around and don’t want to participate in that with me. teens SHOULD have more of a say in our county

Answer

They should at least have the right to not be killed in their own school, but apparently that’s too hard

Answer

Maybe 16 and 17

Answer

They should have their voice and be able to support a cause but we have a voting age for a reason. They (may) have a concept of a generalized right and wrong but not the life experience or depth of knowledge needed to vote for something that affects a community or larger.

Do you think American teens 12-17 should have more rights and say in our society and government?

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