“In addition to being (obviously) the laziest, most narcissistic and most entitled generation ever, millennials have claimed for themselves yet another generational superlative: least likely to vote,”1 states Catherine Rampell from the Washington Post.
To all students out there who believe that voting isn’t important because your vote won’t count: voting matters. It is your voice in the country. Let the rest of the country know we are not lazy, narcissistic or entitled, as you saw from the quote above. In today’s society, teens are often viewed as rebels who believe that the world revolves around them, however, everyone else in this school knows that teens work extremely hard to meet their goals and aspirations in life.
Every student at Malden High School knows an adult whom he or she can influence. Many adults eligible to vote often won’t because they feel as though their vote won’t count or they feel uninformed. Use your power of influence to influence these adults to be informed. Influence them to vote! Influence them to be politically active. Be the one to make them vote and to change their views on voting. If every student at MHS convinced two adults to vote, that would add almost 4000 voters into the voting pool. That number matters and could make a huge difference in how your government responds to your needs.
So many people in American history fought for our right to vote. According to Pat Finnegan, “[he votes] because [he wants] to honor all those before [him] who didn’t have the opportunity to vote.” We should all follow in his footsteps and honor the people who fought for this right. The 14th, 15th, 19th, and 20th amendments are direct proof of the strong desire in our country to keep our right to vote alive. Don’t throw this desire away.
Teenagers are supposed to be rebellious sometimes; that’s simply a part of growing up. But maybe this time, the act of rebellion can just be proving people at the Washington Post wrong and claiming a new superlative for millennials. Teens today want to pave their own path and create their own stories. Teens want to show the older generation that they can contribute back to society in the best way possible and that they are the best
Taking part in your government and taking part in politics doesn’t mean that you have to watch every presidential debate or go out to rallies. It means being informed about the candidates and the issues enough so that you can form your own opinions on how this country should work. Although your vote won’t necessarily be counted right now if you are under 18, getting into the habit of voting will eventually pay off. We want to show elected officials that the PEOPLE are still in power and their voice is still what this country is based on. We are the ones who are in power in this country. The founding fathers who wrote our constitution made sure of this. If we don’t approve of someone in our government’s performance, we fire them – by voting someone else into that seat in office. However, you don’t play a role in that important duty unless you vote. Elected officials are here to serve everyone, but they are also human. If they want to keep their jobs, whose needs are they more likely to listen to, those who vote or those who don’t vote? Today’s generation is not one to sit back and let others tell us that we are narcissistic, lazy, and that we are the least likely to contribute back and vote. Voting matters and you have a voice. Use it. Voting is the new rebellion.
1“Where are all the young voters? – The Washington Post.” 2015. 17 Nov. 2015 <https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/where-are-the-young-voters/2015/07/23/2781990e-316f-11e5-8f36-18d1d501920d_story.html>
