Holley Brady Period 3 5/27/11 Voting Age (Persuasive Essay) Teenage brains are still in the process of growing

and maturing. This causes many teens to be unable to make good decisions. (Enthymeme) Now, knowing this, do I think that teens should be able to make important decisions for our country that affect our people? (Rhetorical Question) I do not. The voting age should not be lowered to thirteen. At the age of thirteen, teenagers are going through a stage in their life in which everything they do revolves around being wanted, accepted and cool, and seeing whats in it for them or what they personally can get out of any situation. They dont always see the big picture because they are often self-absorbed. Many thirteen year olds would not take voting seriously because they do not have enough life experiences to make a good political judgment. The majority of thirteen year olds would vote for many wrong reasons. Teens, from the ages of thirteen to seventeen, still have to go to school. (Pleonasm) Teens voting could cause problems in school. Voting could distract teenagers and cause fights and arguments with their peers or even their teachers with their political beliefs. In school, teens voting could also cause discrimination because of the many different political views of so many people. For example, groups could form concerning where teens stand politically. Politics should not be a teen issue. The majority of teenagers are naive and ignorant. They could easily be tricked into voting for a candidate for multiple reasons. The biggest one being politicians ability to manipulate people by their smart use of propaganda and forms of rhetoric. Teenagers fall for these techniques often because they grab their attention. Although I strongly believe that thirteen is not an appropriate voting age, I do understand that many people disagree. What is their reasoning you may be wondering? A common argument is that teenagers are more interested in politics than any other age. I do agree with this statement. However, I do not think that is a reason to allow them to vote. I think that their curiosity is necessary, so that in the future they will be ready to vote. I think that with their interest they should research and discover all they will need to know about voting and politics so that when they are old enough to vote they will be well educated and know what they are doing. By then they will have built up a strong personal belief system that will be able to help them while electing the candidate they believe is best for the country.

With the prefrontal lobe in the teen brain still developing, teens are often inapt to making tough decisions such as those they would have to make while voting. Thirteen is too young an age to be able to vote because most thirteen year olds are nave, immature, and uncertain. I do not think voting is an issue teens are ready to deal with.

Sources and Definitions Enthymeme- an informally-stated syllogism which omits either one of the premises or the conclusion. The omitted part must be clearly understood by the reader. The usual form of this logical shorthand omits the major premise. http://www.virtualsalt.com/rhetoric6.htm#Alliteration

Rhetorical Question- figure which asks a question, not for the purpose of further discussion, but to assert or deny an answer implicitly; a question whose answer is obvious or implied

Pleonasm- using more words than required to express an idea; being redundant. Normally a vice, it is done on purpose on rare occasions for emphasis http://www.virtualsalt.com/rhetoric6.htm#Alliteration