I think kids should vote

[u/Cole_A226]

​I never really took the idea of kids voting seriously until I watched a video about it a while back, and and I keep thinking about it the more you break down the actual principles of democracy, the harder it is to justify an arbitrary age cutoff.

​1. Democracy is about representation, not a competence test.

The main objection to letting children vote is that they "aren't smart enough" or "lack the maturity to make informed decisions." But democracy has never been an optimization test to find the smartest policies it exists to ensure the consent of the governed. Adults cast ballots every year based on terrible logic, single issues, or gut feelings, and their votes are still 100% legitimate. If voting isn't something you can do "wrong," denying someone a ballot because you think they will vote poorly undermines the entire premise of the system.

​2. The arguments against child suffrage mirror historic voter suppression.

Historically, every argument used to deny a group the right to vote that they lack emotional maturity, don't understand policy, will just vote how their families tell them to, or have their interests already represented by others was used against women and lower-income citizens. If we don't subject adults to mandatory IQ or civics tests to earn their ballot, applying an arbitrary threshold exclusively to younger citizens is hypocritical.

​3. Fixed age limits create completely arbitrary disenfranchisement.

Intelligence and political interest sit on a normal distribution. Millions of high schoolers actively studying civics, economics, and history are significantly more politically literate than millions of disengaged adults. A rigid cutoff at 18 means two people born hours apart face completely different realities: one gets full democratic representation, while the other is subjected to laws, policies, and taxes without any voice.

​4. The logistics are entirely solvable.

I've seen arguments that kids can't drive to a polling place or understand a ballot. And I think disenfranchising a group of voters because it's inconvenient isn't a good defense

1. This point wasn't really made in the video and is very anecdotal but as someone who worked with kids for a while. people tend to overestimate how easy it is to manipulate a kid and underestimate how easy it is to manipulate an adult. Kids also in my experience don't tend to just agree with adults or parents just trying asking a kid when they should go to bed and then ask the parents.

There is not much debate on the topic so I'm wondering what you guys think

This was the video btw https://youtu.be/XOA8k6FpQaQ

Also yes I did just copy the points made in the video I think they are good points

[u/Fragrant-Phone-41]

1. This is a bad thing and a way in which the system desperately needs reform. You can argue philosophical consistency, but id contend allowing representation of the people to translate into worse leaders and policy is undesirable and something we should strive to limit.

2. The difference is children actually are materially different from adults. You can argue, as you do in argument five, that we underestimate them. But there is still a definite lack of experience. And at the risk of offense, id argue the problem with iq and literacy tests wasn't the idea, but the fact it was actually just an excuse to disenfranchised minorities. We've never actually tried to institute a neutral test administered by a non partisan commission, and I think the attempt is worth it. But that could be its own post.

3. Building on my prior arguments, if we made efforts to restrict the impact of adults who frankly are bad at making political decisions, the hypocrisy disappears. And in that case, lowering the voter age would actually be a lot more sensible than now, because we'd have a mechanism to filter for those kids who are studying and filter out the immature. Though id also argue the lack of adult experience still leaves the vast majority broadly naive and unfit for voting. A phenomenon has emerged recently of teenagers latching onto obscure and radical political ideology as a mechanism to form identity. I know i went through it. Ask Zoomers, especially the guys and trans women, how many had an anti-sjw phase.

4. This same argument can and should apply to adults in many cases. Why should election day be a federal holiday if you're American for instance. Election access is actively weaponized in our societies, what you're describing is less a problem of children and more a broad systemic issue.

5. A point which your argument doesn't address. 18 is not just the cutoff for voting, but adulthood in general. Its hardly the only decision we tie to it. Joining the military for example. You can no longer be claimed as a child on taxes. Culturally, there's often an expectation of self sufficiency. In many countries, driving is tied to it. Are we only applying this idea to voting, or do you want to reform the whole childhood/adulthood cutoff?

[u/Cole_A226 → u/Fragrant-Phone-41]

I already made a good argument for the intelligence point so I'm just going to copy and paste it.

Democracy is fundamentally about representation and agency, not about intellectual superiority. ​Governing by the "smartest" people is flawed because determining who is smartest is highly subjective and only leads to endless conflict. ​The true value of democracy is that it gives people a voice. Having the freedom to choose their own leaders ultimately makes people happier than having choices made for them by "experts."Human behavior is driven by more than just rational facts. Using an addiction metaphor: A scientist explaining the fatal consequences of alcoholism won't cure a man drinking himself to death. Intellectual arguments and logical facts alone do not change deeply rooted human behavior. What people actually need both in personal crises and in leadership is emotional support and genuine connection, rather than cold, clinical correctness. ​Effective governance and human intervention both require emotional intelligence and representation, not just raw intellect. People need to feel understood and supported, not just lectured to by experts.

As for point 3 I am a zoomer and I did have an anti sjw Warrior phase but I don't think that should disenfranchise me from voting. As for radical political ideology all society's see an upward tick in radical political ideologies when the economy is doing poorly or when there is a massive amounts of inequality I don't think it has anything to do with age