BRATTLEBORO — With all the outstanding efforts by young teenage leaders this year on issues like gun violence and climate change, isn't it time we finally gave them a chance to vote?
The students from Parkland, Fla., are the lead organizers on gun violence in the country, and 15-year old Swede Greta Thunberg is the top voice addressing climate change in the entire world right now.
We should support the efforts of our local teens to vote and to become responsible citizens.
I have worked with high-school student leaders for decades in my role as director of the Governor's Institutes of Vermont's Current Issues and Youth Activism Institute. We have hosted thousands of 14-17-year-old student leaders from around the world here in Brattleboro at SIT since the 1990s. They never cease to amaze me in their dedication, inside, and creativity and working for social change.
Let's vote yes on March 5 to at least let 16-year-olds vote on local issues in Brattleboro. Given the way the older generation is handling the affairs of the planet, next year we can take up the question of whether adults should still be allowed to vote.