'If we let teens vote, politicians will finally have to give a sh*t what young people think — they’ll have to actually earn the vote of the generation who will feel the long-term impact of their decisions.'
. Following the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, earlier this month that has raised much conversation about the political power of young people,talked to seven political influencers and asked them a single question: What if all teenagers could vote?, a leader in the work to end gun violence, reminds us that 4 million 17-year-olds will turn 18 before the midterms.
“Millennials haven’t turned out in big numbers in midterm elections. That needs to change in 2018,” Watts tells. “I want them to engage, vote, and then run. They don’t have to wait until midlife to run. College-aged Americans should consider politics as a career. Especially women, who make up only 17% of the 500,000 elected positions in America. We can’t wait, and given the policy crises in our nation — like gun violence — there’s a moral imperative to step up.
“If we let teens vote in 2018, politicians will finally have to give a sh*t what young people think — they’ll have to actually earn the vote of the generation who will feel the long-term impact of their decisions. The kids dealing with gun violence, flooding streets, crappy health care, or four-day school weeks — to name just a few — will be heard. And! We'll be able to create the habit of voting earlier in life. More regular voters is generally a good thing for democracy.
“Out of the bloodstained hallways of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School rose the powerful, articulate voices of the surviving students. In memory and honor of their murdered classmates, they’ve become eloquent advocates for much-needed, long-overdue gun control. They’re no longer willing to cede the issue to the adults in power. They’ve seized responsibility for their own lives and the lives of their classmates across America.
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