According to a Harvard survey, the youth vote is increasing due to the recentmost elections that have proven to be very unpopular. The rising generation of adults seems to want the reign of Republican ruling to end. It seems as if the rising generation is more interested in "change" as Mr. Obama often claims in his campaigning.

Another reason that the youth vote may be rising is due to internet campaigning. I have seen many different advertisements on popular social networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook, and others. The presidential candidates of today realize that advertising on such websites is very beneficial.

I believe there may be another reason why the youth vote is steadily increasing. I am 16 years old and I have seen, first-hand, how easily it is to influence today's youth. I truly believe that one reason why the political candidates of tomorrow will be able to gain more votes is simply because the youth of today is so easily to influence.

With all of these possible reasons combining, one can only imagine how important the youth vote will be in the upcoming years. One day the youth vote may be the most important vote to obtain. For now, all we can do is wait.

Roots & Shoots, a service-learning program of The Jane Goodall Institute, is excited to announce grants of $300 - $700 to support youth-led service projects in New England. Up to 10 mini-grants will support youth groups (pre-K through college age) in planning and implementing service projects.

We encourage youth to address the theme of “Promoting Engagement in World Harmony.” This is based upon a recent initiative of the Roots & Shoots New England Youth Leadership Council; they seek to translate a vision of World Harmony into speech, art or action.

The Mini-Grant Application is available at: http://nerootsandshoots.blogspot.com/2008/02/roots-and-shoots-announces-world.html or you can get a copy from me, Christine Ellersick, Roots & Shoots New England Regional Manager: cellersick@janegoodall.org. Feel free to share this information.

The opinion pages of major newspapers are a graveyard of seemingly innovative but sometimes half-baked policy proposals, very few of which actually gain traction and become reality. So I didn't think much when I read Anya Kamenetz's piece arguing persuasively that the voting age in the United States should be lowered from 18 to 16:

The more we treat teenagers as adults, the more they rise to our
expectations. From a developmental and vocational point of view, the
late teens are the right starting point for young people to think
seriously about their futures. Government can help this process by
bestowing rights along with responsibilities.

Then this morning there were 7 letters to the editor printed in response to the article, most of which seemed to be in favor of Kamenetz's proposal. (There were also 270 comments posted to the New York Times website responding to the article.)

Apparently the article struck a chord with the readership. So who knows? Maybe we will see the voting age lowered soon enough. But it's probably unlikely without one thing: the input of youth themselves.

What do you think? Is it unfair to have an age requirement of 18 years old in order to vote? Why stop at age 16, why not younger? Would this result in greater turnout among young people? Are there other factors in our political system that need to be addressed first, before we look at changing voting age requirements?  read more »