Readers React: Give 16-year-olds the right to vote? Have we lost our minds?

To the editor: Have the people calling for 16-year-olds to be given the right to vote in school board elections lost their minds? Does any mature adult still think the same way they did at 16?

Do those who would give power over enormously consequential political decisions to teenagers recognize how easy it is to sway 16-year-olds, to manipulate them into beliefs that serve insidious forces?

Adults do not make good decisions some of the time, but by and large they accept responsibility for maintaining themselves, their families and the social order, and they accept the consequences of their decisions. Youth may be passionate about many worthwhile goals, but they have little understanding of what needs to be done to move incrementally toward achieving them.

Karen Robinson-Stark, Pasadena

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To the editor: Ask parents if they truly believe their 16-year-old even has an opinion on taxes, civic matters or foreign affairs. Ask a judge whether a 16-year-old has the mental capacity to be held accountable for his criminal actions. Ask a medical expert if a 16-year-old’s brain is fully developed.

All of the answers would be no. This is just another progressive idea to increase the left’s base.

Bob Guarrera, Laguna Niguel

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To the editor: Giving 16-year-olds the right to vote is a great way to ace out the charter proponents running for school board.

Teenagers can be indoctrinated in the classroom. Voting in candidates their teachers endorse (wink-wink), the students can effectively shoot down any idea that endangers the status quo.

It will definitely be the death knell to charter schools, and “mediocrity for all” will be the slogan for the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Jim Rahm, Chatsworth

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