Recently, I had a conversation with a friend about being eighteen and voting. Toward the end of the discussion I said that I wasn't registered to vote yet and he started how easy it was register. I really had no urge to expend any level of effort to place myself into eligibility to vote. It seemed like I didn't think my vote would make a different and that my right to vote is pretty irrelevant. While watching the civil rights documentaries, certain groups of people went on great endeavors to receive the right to vote. From what I observed, young voters aren't as motivated to make their voices heard, specifically those of the age of eighteen. Many eighteen year-olds are registered to vote and are using their rights. While this is happening, it also seems like less and less people are concerned with voting. This brings me to wonder why our generation is less driven to have our voices heard.
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ReplyDeleteI think part of it might be from school. Even though it's easy to register to vote, we are never taught how to in school. In history class, we learn about our constitutional rights and how many minorities fight to get their voice heard, but like I mentioned, we're never taught how to register to vote and why that should matter to us on an individual and community scale. I think there's also just this view that voting is an adult thing. Many 18 years old don't see them as an adult yet, so they don't bother with politics and such.
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting. I have heard many young-ish people say that they felt that their votes were not taken into account as much as they would like. They exercise their rights but it's the speculation of how much impact their vote will make that creates this sort of questioning. I don't know how much our votes impact the presidential elections, but we do know our voices do get heard, so i think its worth registering to vote.
ReplyDeleteI thought this post was really interesting, I agree with what you're saying because I feel this way also about certain matters too, "it seemed like my voice wouldn't make a difference". Although, i think it is a really bad mindset because if we always think that then nothing will get accomplished or change. If everyone believed their voices wouldn't make a difference than blacks would still be segregated and gays still wouldn't be able to marry one another. It is important to know that our one voice does make a difference or clearly we would never move forward.
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