In 1971 the United States Constitution had the 26th amendment normalizing the voting age minimum to 18. Many seniors in this school are turning 18, so this will make them allowed to vote in the upcoming primaries in November. Are these teens prepared or do they even know that voting season is upon us?
Walking around the school talking to students I learned that many were not well informed on what the voting was exactly about. For instance, Andrew, who had turned 18 just three days before voting, stated how he had no clue who was even running and if this was for NH or for the whole USA. I had asked him if he planned on voting and he said “If I get around to doing a little more research on what I’m supposed to be voting for then maybe, or I’ll just do what my parents are doing.” He said this was due to not having enough time to do his research and figure out who he exactly would choose. He just assumes that his parents choice is a decent one
After hearing that he was just going to vote with what his parents did, I talked to some more students who all had similar ideas. Out of the fifteen seniors I asked, only seven of them were eighteen and the others weren’t turning 18 till after November. Of those seven only three were actually going to vote. Those three also had no clue who was running and were just going to vote with their parents. For the ones who weren’t going to vote, I asked why and most just said the same as Coty L. “I just don’t have enough time between school and work”. One of them told me that if they don’t vote it isn’t gonna change anything even if they did.
As I turn eighteen with my fellow classmates I can’t help and feel the same as some of them do. Yes in the general scheme of things our vote has barely any effect on the whole big picture. Voting is our constitutional right and it is our duty as Americans to help out as much as we can. One vote might ot make a huge difference but a whole bunch can make a large impact. It is not much of a timely process, so making an opening for it shouldn’t be a hassle. I know companies encourage their employees to vote for instance mine and my fathers. They specifically try to set up time for me and him to go in and vote without changing up our day. We are Americans and should help what will be of our future. We are the next generation and we should be taking this future into our own hands for the better. I will do my part and I hope that others will also do theirs.
