Prime Minister Harper

Dear Prime Minister Harper,

I wanted to address you on a serious issue, regarding opinionated surveys based on voting and teen adolescents under the age of 18. I would also appreciate your personal feedback on my opinion of this issue. As a teen myself I do not think we the children of the future should be faced with such a huge amount of responsibility at the age of 18 or younger. To be honest the average teenager (ages 16-17) don't care about the importance of voting and the government, we are easily negatively influenced by fellow friends, parents and the media, not to mention the overwhelming feeling of responsibility suffocating us in "doing the right thing" by voting. I believe that as teens we have a huge amount of time to worry about these government related issues and are to face them at a much appropriate age and time.

There are many reasons why teens are negatively influenced by friends and family. Teens are practically forced and pressured into making decisions but are expected to choose what's best for the community. Whenever a teen is faced with a dilemma they naturally ask their friends and family for their opinions. If stated your decision on what you wanted to do you are either encouraged into making that decision or rejected by it. Also as teens we tend to think instantly about our parents and their rightfully chosen decisions on an issue such as this one. If parents were to encourage you into choosing who to pick when it came to voting and you yourself had thought otherwise, you wouldn't know what to do since whatever you think your parents do is rightfully chosen opinion. Yet at the same time you remain hesitant into thinking about your opinion and why your decision may be right as well.

There are many reason teens 16-17 years of age don't care about the importance of voting and the government. One of them being are the school-related issues they currently face, teenagers are faced with personal issues almost every single day as oppose to worrying about the importance of voting. We as teens are self absorbed in our own problems, given another by the government can become aggravating.

Another reason regarding this issue is the overwhelming feeling of responsibility suffocating us in "doing the right thing". By "doing the right thing" we are expected to choose the best decision by voting for the right candidate, but what exactly does "doing the right thing" mean? No one knows but yourself which is why teens are driven to hesitate in making their decision, they are too easily persuaded in relying on others rather than relying on theirselves.

In conclusion, teens under the age of 18 should not be able to vote because the average teenager (ages 16-17) don't care about the importance of voting and the government, we are easily negatively influenced by fellow friends, parents and the media, not