- Sep 16, 2012
- 60,982
- 54,936
- 3,605
If anything, since the introduction of more of these newfangled electronic gadgets, kids no longer are as engaged in the world around them. Sure, you can find the odd exception, like in this piece. But the MAJORITY? meh, they don't care. Even more so than adults.Oregon already made it easier to vote than any other state. Now they want to make it legal for kids who don't have pubes yet decide who our next president will be. More states will quickly follow suit.
Brainwashing works best on children.....and Democrats want to let children (people who don't qualify as adults) decide which Democrat they want to vote for.
(CNN)Sixteen-year-olds can drive and pay taxes. Soon, they may also be able to vote in Oregon.
Legislators have proposed an amendment to the Oregon Constitution that would lower the voting age from 18 to 16. If the bill passes, voters would decide on the proposal in the 2020 election.
State Sen. Shemia Fagan (D-Portland), one of the bill's sponsors, announced the bill on Monday.
"It's time to lower the voting age in Oregon and give young people a chance to participate at the ballot about decisions that affect their homes, their clean air and clean water future, their schools, and as we've seen, their very lives," Fagan said at a press conference.
Bill sponsors say they want the amendment to extend to federal elections.
Fagan pointed to the political activism of Parkland, Florida, students, who challenged lawmakers to tighten gun control laws after a gunman killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School last February.
Samantha Gladu, executive director of the youth grassroots organization Bus Project, said 16- and 17-year-olds are engaged and smart enough to cast informed votes.
"They know that we have to take action urgently on issues like education funding, health care, climate justice and gun violence in particular," Gladu said. "I'm also hearing a lot from 16- and 17-year-olds about the need for criminal justice reform and the need to stop mass incarceration."
Natalie Khalil, a senior at Lake Oswego High School in Oregon who has been organizing for gun law reform, said high school students should be able to apply the knowledge they learn in their civics classes.
Allowing 16- and 17-year-olds to vote will "create lifelong voters," Khalil said.
Oregon Senate Republican leader Herman Baertschiger Jr. opposes the idea.
"16-year-olds are too young to enlist in the military, too young to own firearms, too young to own property, too young to enter into legal contracts, and too young to get married. But they are old enough to vote? People are not legally considered adults in this country until they are 18 years old, and I believe they shouldn't be able to vote until then either," he said in a statement Tuesday. "This is nothing more than an attempt to expand the voter rolls to sway elections."
Oregon may lower the voting age to 16 - CNNPolitics
They should either have tests given to qualify them for voting, or, once again raise it to 21.
I am ashamed at how little interest my 17 year old has in the goings on in the world around him. All he cares about is what is going on in his social group, the basket ball team, video games, the NBA, etc. MAYBE issues affecting his school AND THAT IS ALL. Nothing else crosses his Instagram feed.
When I was his age, I was a news junking. I religiously watched the nightly news, and read the paper. He doesn't have time for that. But then, my folks were different too. They actually believe that voters can make a difference.
He could care less about national and world issues. . .