Should children be allowed to vote

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While we are at it, let us be not so speceis centric: let animals (at least those with CNS) vote too.

Well, even if we did, animals won't be able to hold their pen in order to vote, so thats pretty much draws a line.

Oh, don't forget the virtual pets too! It would be cute to see a little norn go to a voting booth and say "Eem vote" Ah great, now I'm dieing from too much cuteness!



You, sir, have alot in common with me



Good point. However, just becuse polititians are what makes people spin in our graves dosn't mean all adults are like that



It's simple: Adults also queston each other. Sorry for not making that clear before. And yes, if adults end up growing up to be jerks, then your quite right But if they're nice, it's better they stay as they are.



True. This also is prooving that teens overlook things sometimes. I'm doing that right now



Or, they care about all of those so they can get $$$ in their pockets Although, not all adults act like this. I hope so, anyhow.



Your right about that, kiddo

Last edited by Leporidae on 11 Feb 2007, 12:31 am, edited 1 time in total.

Can we have virtual governments too? I would like that much better than real ones!

dad: you vote the one i like ok junior?!?!?!?!?
kid:yes daddddddddddddddddddd,ufff...

Cool



Adults voted for them. Things would of been a lot quieter if they were to vote for Green Party.



I know they do. But in case of adults both sides have legitimacy. In case of kids it is assumed that adults are right and kids are the ones that have to learn from them. And yes kids do have to learn from them, but adults have something to learn from kids, too (such as brutal honesty for example). So all I am saying is that I would like it to be more two-sided. And if it is two sided then kids should vote.



But don't forget that a lot of people who LOOK nice are simply playing a game in pretending to be such. Social norms is much more about how to pretend as opposed to who you really are. Children fight more, you are right. Adults know that fighting won't get them what they want. So instead they choose "socially correct" ways of getting others to do dirty work for them, and maintaining a facade of someone really nice all alone. So adults have all the sins that kids do, plus one more: dishonesty and manipulation.



Everyone overlooks things, not just teens.



Exactly, and thats why I am saying they are overrated. They PRETEND to care about things they really don't. On the other hand, as a kid, you TRULLY cared. You didn't want $$$. You cared about issues because you really did. So kids are more sincere than adults.



Cool

Still wouldn't stop many kids voting for the same parties their fathers and grandfathers did before them, even when that party doesn't represent anything like what those before them originally voted for.

Same goes for adults. Statistically, most adults choose the same religion as their fathers/grandfathers. So I would guess that in terms of politics stats should be similar.

Yes, I know. Much of north-east England, Scotland and Wales is a case in point.

Well, a president has to make important decisions every day for up to four years. Up to eight, of course, if he feels like running again. I'd say that takes a bit more critical thought than simply casting a vote once every four years.

Okay but I can't think of any public offices that will let an 18 year old join (for that matter most would require you to have a college degree which puts the average person between 21-22 years old.) So either you concede your orginal point or... I don't know what you do.

I think the electorate should be restricted to one person: me.

Seriously, I don't see any reason not to lower the voting age to maybe 16. Any lower than that, and you're pushing your luck.

Off-topic, I think compulsory voting is a bad idea as well. Why would I want people picking my leaders if they don't want to go to the polls in the first place?

True, true. The green party dosn't get too many votes becuse they don't get much support, unfortainitly. However, everyone has diffrent ideas on how hings should run. Unless you somehow became president or got alot of politcal power, then there are some things the leaders would do that you don't like.



I can agree with that. But part of me dosn't want to agree with the last bit. I think I know how to put it now:

The resond kids shouldn't vote is becuse too many of them don't pay enough attention to politcal news (From all sides of the story). They can't make accurate votes and make good choices in this setting becuse they don't know enough about what's going on around them. They'd rather play video games. I know I do.

Plus with what they hear from their parents, things could get messy. They need to grow up to a age where they can keep track of that kind of stuff and not fall for what their parents are saying political wise (If the parents are not being tottaly honest with them, anyhow)



I'm quite aware of that I heard of it all too much before. But kids have their fair share of dishonesty and manipulation. Everyone dose in small tiny bits. Including I.



True



True. But not enough kids do it, however So that's a problem. That's why adults get the idea that they can make a quick buck by telling kids to take care of the enviroment. I can say that I fell for that one at the time.

Overall, kids arn't much diffrent from adults. They're like minature collectables

I think we are pushing our luck to a great extent anyway, I recognize that age is not the best determinant for good voting qualities but rather something that correlates, however, I don't think that even 16 is necessarily old or wise enough to necessarily vote. Many 16 year olds have hare-brained ideas, even 18 year olds do as well, but at least we can hope and it would seem that the number of blind radicals will decrease with time.

Definitely compulsory voting is bad. The voters you force to vote would be more ignorant on average than the current average voter and these individuals would still not find it rational to necessarily educate themselves to the full extent necessary. It would be a horrible idea.

Basically what I said is that being in a public office requires more critical thought than simply voting, therefore, the minimum age should be greater. Voting for governor is not the same thing as being a governor. And my original point? Well, my original point is that children shouldn't be allowed to vote, and I stand by it.

On a rather unrelated note, "Vote or Die" is one of the most thoughtless campaigns ever conceived, as it targets just the people we wouldn't want voting in the first place. Thanks, MTV!

Ummm no your orginal point was children shouldn't vote because we wouldn't trust them in public office or running for such. But we don't trust 18 year olds in public office, (heck for that matter we generally don't trust 30 year olds in public office) yet we still let them vote. So that orginal point was messed up.