I would like to start out simply by saying that I truely do love America, and I am quite proud to be a citizen of the United States. So please, do not misinterperate anything I say in the following topic. Thanks!
This is something that many of you may have heard before, and many of you may not have heard. Being 17 years old deffinately has its benefits. I am old enough to get my licence (at least where I live in the US), I am starting to be looked at as more of a mature person rather than just a "child", and I can still find the time in life to do a lot of the things i enjoy without being over-burdoned by the stress of work, family life, and many other things. There is one thing about this that has been really irking me as of recently. With elections coming up and such, I am encouraged to sit back and pay attention to all that is happening in both state and federal government, and my elders tell me to start making my own educated opinions on who I WOULD vote for if I were eligable.
That is a part of what bothers me. I am not elidgable to vote, yet if I were to commit a horrific crime, I would be put on trial as an adult. I have friends who have gone to court at the age of 17 and the judge has told them, "well you are old enough to make your own decisions, you should have known better". I personally have never had to go to court, and i plan on keeping it that way for a long time; however, if I were to commit a crime such as murder today, I would be put on trial as an adult. The theory behind this is that I am allegedly mature enough to make my own conscious informed decisions, and that I knew exactly what I was doing when I committed the crime. That would be a decision which would completely change the entire outcome of my life. Then why is it, that I am not conisdered old enough nor educated enough to vote? A large group of adults always remind teenagers that we are the future of America, and that what we do now can greatly affect what happens in the future: good or bad.
Someone told me, "well, that is because the court system works different from the privledges you get with age." That statement is correct in many ways, but so very wrong at the same time. Many things that we take for granted or even call "rights" are actually privledges granted to us. Well, if the court system works seperately from those, and can dictate wether we are to be considered adults on a case-by-case basis, then I think it is only fair to point out that the very same court selected and dictate those very priveledges.
Now, I am well aware that this may be coming off as immature, and rather impatient, but I personally feel that a country which claims to run off of a strong set of morals such as freedom, justice, the persuit of happiness and many others should not change the "age barriors" for punishments and not for freedoms as well. I think that if you are going to do that for one, you must do the same for the other. Once again, I would go to jail and be prosecuted the same as an adult at my age, yet I am not considered an adult when it comes to making decisions that are going to have a much larger effect on my life than it will on the people who are chosen to vote for me. The reason I say that is because in most instances, people who are younger today will live longer than those who are older. This is just common sense.
If somehow, some way, we were able to impliment new laws allowing those who were able to comprehend enough to make an informed decision on who to vote for it could have the potential to make America much stronger of a society. Also, I am trying my best to look from both sides here. I know for a fact that there would be some people who would just abuse this privlege and take it as more of a joke than anything; however, please remember that there is always going to be that little group of people no matter what the age is, no matter what the topic at hand is, and no matter where you are.
If someone has a decent explanation on how this is fair, I am all ears. The way I am seeing things right now though, I am truley upset about this. I have not completely closed myself out from hearing any logical explanation for this, rather i really would like to hear one. I am sure there must be a reason for it, I have just yet to find it.
-Silenced Message