This year is election year. Many people go out and vote for their favorite candidate. Due to the 26th Amendment, 18-year-olds get to vote. This year, I will be one of those. But should 18-year-olds actually get to vote?

Voting is a big milestone in young people’s lives. Ever since I was a little girl, it was one of the many things that I looked forward to when I got older. So do lots of little kids. 

I have always heard from a young age how important it is to vote. History classes stressed this, many commercials growing up talked about it, my parents always went to vote (and I always wanted their “I voted” sticker). 

I think this is one of the reasons why I wanted to start voting when I was younger; because I thought that it was important. 

And this is true. Voting IS important. It is what our country was built on. Voting allows everyone to have a voice, no matter what your age is. 

Lots of people may argue that 18-year-olds are too young to vote. Maybe they aren’t educated enough, haven’t lived enough, are simply too young. But I don’t think that this is true. 

Now, I can definitely say that not all 18-year-olds necessarily are very mature, but that doesn’t mean that all of them aren’t or that they shouldn’t be able to vote for what they think is right. 

I know a lot of very mature people, who are my age, that have very valid and educated opinions on politics. For this reason, I think that it is totally fair for 18-year-olds to vote. 

Little kids are always watching, always observing, always learning. For the most part, this just continues as they get older, and they get even more observant.  

So by the time that someone turns 18, there is a good chance that they have a fairly good idea about what is going on in the world. Social media has also facilitated this as teens now have more access to information about politics and issues in our world than ever before. 

This all allows teens to actually know more than you might think, and allows them to start forming their own opinions. So in reality, they probably are educated enough to go vote. 

All of this to say, I do think that young adults should be able to vote. More importantly, I think that they NEED to vote. Young voices are just as important as older ones, especially since they are the future of our country. 

All voices matter, young and old. Everyone should be voting whenever they can. 

So I will be voting on Nov. 5, will you?