I brought my latest sign to the street. It landed like a lead balloon. Except for with the kids! They were very excited. I could see them gesticulating behind glass, which the parents never opened their car windows because, well -they didn’t agree that their Tweens and Teens should be able to vote.
Perhaps they thought I would be a bad influence! I really did think I was just bringing up the question, but apparently it caused a fire storm in a few different cars.
But here’s the thing: kids these days are faced with AK-47’s suddenly appearing in their schools, global warming, and traffic congestion beyond belief. They are also experiencing the hardships of their parents who might have to live far from town in order to be able to afford to be at work in Nashville. And they are being driven all over town just to get to school. The parents are afraid to let them ride the bus. Only very poor parents allow their kids to ride the bus. That doesn’t mean the buses aren’t filled with school kids at particular hours of the day. They are. It just means that way too many parents are driving all over town, causing even more congestion.
The Catholic Church states that children reach the age of reason at seven years old. They take their first communion at 12 years old. Why wouldn’t we do our kids the same favor, treating them as concerned about their future? Of voting on issues that directly concern them, such as school funding? School choice? Whether or not to pay our teachers properly so that all schools can be high-quality here.
My godson, age 11, had this to say:
“All AK-47 and automatic weapons and handguns should be banned. No citizens should be allowed to own one. Only the military should have AK-47’s, and then only in dire situations. People who need to hunt can use hunting rifles. They need to register for each gun they need to get.”
Who could argue with the logic of this? Who could argue that he is not able to see the situation clearly, and make choices?
I know that many issues that concerned me when I was a teen were not decided by me. I lived with the consequences starting at age 18. I was one of the few who actually voted. By then, apathy had set in with most kids, because well, we hadn’t really been allowed to put our voice in before that, and so the sudden demarcation at age 18 seemed pretty illogical. Most people felt they were powerless. I think they learned this in high school. We were carried around in a handbasket for quite a while. In fact, about six years if you count middle school.
What do you think? Weigh in by emailing editorial@thecontributor.org.