Should the voting age in the US be raised?

I would have to say that I think the voting age should be raised. After hearing many younger people's take on the election, it is obvious that they are not informed or educated about the process, and seem to have forgotten anything that they learned in school about how our government works.

If we as parents keep on coddeling our children they will never be mature enough to vote and make what is there right decision. Instead of taking it out on the young adult maybe you should advocate for them in the school system demanding politics be apart of the learning process, along with writing checks and other daily life things that are so important in life. How many people took out money to pay for thier childs college? Not me my children put themselves through college with some help from us, if they can handle working and going to school and succeeding with good grades then they are indeed ready for what the world will throw at them. Just my thought!

Yes I think so. You rally have to be mature to understand what a vote is all about and the responsibilities attached to it. So I think in the US it aught to be raised to 60. The election process will then be much quieter! haha

I think that this is so sad! First off, I don't think that the voting age should be raised, but I do think that something is going wrong in our education if this college student just thinks that the government prints out money whenever they want some. It is the expectation of the schools to teach our children how the government works, so when come voting age, they can make an informed decision.

That's a hard call. Within my own family I have three children who I consider differently. The oldest would have been mature enough to vote at 15. The middle will never be able to vote and my 17 year old I think could make an informed decision in voting. I'm sure the situation is similar in other families too. Ignorance is not an excuse. Especially today when you have all sorts of ways to find out everything you can about the candidates and make an informed decision. The ability to be able to get past the smooth-talkers, gleaming smiles and pretty images to get down to the facts.

I personally think the voting age should be raised to at least twenty one or higher because most kids who are between eighteen and twenty one do not care about the politics and do not pay attention to campaigns and do not have a reason for who they vote for,or they do not vote at all,at least some people who are over twenty pay attention to the issues,and actually pick a candidate because of what they stand for and not just because of what party they are with,and when people vote without knowing why they are voting for who they are voting for or without knowing who they want to be president it does not help the economy,and me and my fiance are not voting because we have not followed the campaigns of either opponent so we could not vote for the one who would be best,and I personally do not care for either opponent, and think both are not right for the job.

This is a problem that could be solved in a couple of ways. One option would of course be to raise the voting age. This would mean that the voters were older, and hopefully more mature and educated about our government and the election process, etc. However, it would not guarantee that they had more knowledge about our government and how it works. It would also not mean that they were any more knowledgeable about the voting process or election process. Another option would be to have a mandatory class for juniors and seniors in high school teaching politics, government, election processes, and voter education. That way they would have a better grasp of how our government works, the problems facing our nation, how to educate themselves about the candidates running for office, and how to keep up with the bills that are being proposed in congress so that they can contact their representatives and senators and let their voices be heard on these issues. A third option that would help solve this growing problem would be to offer a class similar to the one I mentioned above to new voters registering. It could also be required for voters born after a certain year to take the class when they register to vote. This would again educate the voters about our government and election processes. Actually, a combination of these things might be the best idea. Just some thoughts....

here in canada we had a federal election during the middle of october and though the legal age to vote here is 19, there was very little interest from younger people from the age of 19 to say 30. they feel overwhelmed, worried about paying off their debts from schooling etc and feel that no matter who they vote for, tomorrow things will not change that much. so i dont think raising the voting age is really the solution.

Heck no - don't punish the rest of the 18 year olds for the idiocy of a few. I knew since I was 14 or 15, if not younger, that any money that comes from the government also comes from the taxpayers. That's why I was against Carol Strayhorn for Texas governer during the last election. She tried to hook in the highschool and college kids with promises of the state paying for the first two years of school. Of course she never elaborated on where she'd get the money, but anyone that didn't have cobwebs in their head knew how costly it would be. No, 18's a good age to start the voting process. Sure, you'll get plenty of complete morons voting - but those can be found in every age group.

Good thought but if they did something like that the next set level of age would be twenty-one. I don't think that would be far to raise the age of voting for that. This years election I think you have more eighteen year olds voting. Which is good they are getting involved with there voting rights. I understand what your saying about the young lady not knowing about where the money came from for her schooling. This just might get her to go out and find a job to pay what she can for her schooling. So I thing it really doesn't have anything to do with being able to vote. She just learned something for today, where the money from her loans came from. It wasn't money just printed. Even though the government prints money, it's really not theres. Yet that is a thought though, if they print there own money couldn't they print it to pay off some of the bailout that is going on? I could be way off in thinking that, still I don't feel it should have any bearings on the voting age.

I think the current age is fine, like others have said if 18 is old enough to fight for and die for your country you should be able to have a say in who sends you off to fight.

I think it depends on the maturity level of the kid. I have two sons one 26 and one 18. The 26 yr old would be one that needs to wait! LOL (He would love to hear that) but on the other hand the 18 year old is very intersted an very informed. I hate to admit it but he has made me more informed. Could have to do with the fact that he is going to college and majoring in political science whereas the other is majoring in the partying 101 and girls 102! LOL Go figure huh?

I think 18 is already enough.