Voting rights earned, not given

    Voting is the most powerful right that an individual of any nation can wield.

    Our ancestors fought and died for our right to choose those who would represent us. Our right to vote is what allows us to cast out the incompetent and bring in capable representatives.

    So why would we bestow this right on 14 year olds?

    Ron Wilson, a Democratic state representative from Houston, has proposed a bill that would lower the minimum voting age to 14. House Bill 672, which Wilson authored, has been given to the House Committee of Elections.

    Wilson serves on the committee that will review and possibly approve the bill.

    At first glance the idea of a 14-year-old voting sounds ludicrous. A closer look into why he would suggest such a bill reveals his reasoning. As a society, we have become so paranoid about crime that we will try children as adults in certain situations.

    This bill appears to say that if we can try a 14-year-old as an adult, then that child should have the same rights as an adult. Wilson does have a point with that argument.

    Before such an act can even be considered, questions need to be answered, and inconsistencies in the way we disperse rights according to age must be fixed.

    If we lower the voting age to 14, do we then lower the driving age to 14? If one can be responsible enough to vote, then why not drive?

    What about registering for the draft? Are we going to change the draft age to 14? If they are old enough to take part in the country’s political system, are they not old enough to defend it?

    We require people of voting age to serve on juries. That is one of the responsibilities of a voting citizen. Are we going to require a 14-year-old to serve on a jury? Would anyone feel confident in a teenager’s maturity to condemn a person to death or life imprisonment?

    One of the arguments for the bill is that many teenagers are studying government and, therefore, are more familiar with the candidates and issues than, in some cases, their parents. This argument makes sense, but the fundamental flaw is that we don’t treat all rights equally.

    Many states have instituted laws that have pushed back full driving privileges until a person turns 18. What kind of message does this send to the children of today? We will tell them that they are responsible enough at 14 to help us run a country but not to drive nor legally buy a beer?

    The greater problem seems to be that we expect our children to behave like adults, think like adults and be punished like adults. But we still want to treat them like children when it comes to giving them any of the rights and privileges they have earned.

    Our country must remember that childhood should be remembered fondly, not clouded with adult responsibilities.