Children should be able to vote; they are the future

By Isadore Kleinman
Posted 9/11/20

The country’s leaders should be helping to stop climate change, halt the spread of Covid-19, destroy racism and recognize how they are spending our money. That kind of leadership is not happening enough. For these reasons, we need more people to speak out for kids’ rights.

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Children should be able to vote; they are the future

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Voting decides how the country is going to be run for the next four years and beyond. The country’s leaders should be helping to stop climate change, halt the spread of Covid-19, destroy racism and recognize how they are spending our money. That kind of leadership is not happening enough. For these reasons, we need more people to speak out for kids’ rights. This means kids should have the right to vote.

Kids should be allowed to vote because, in this country, kids are the next generation of upstanders and equal rights movement leaders. Some adults are unreliable, and we can’t trust them with the future of our nation. Some other adults are very helpful in equal rights movements. We need more adults to speak out for our rights as kids and citizens of the United States. Kids should have more of a say in who gets voted into office.

Education is the main way that we kids can eventually get jobs and support ourselves. When the government doesn’t put enough money towards funding schools, the schools shut down, and children are forced to go to other schools where we are not as comfortable. If children vote, we can help elect candidates who are putting money towards schools. Kids’ lives can get better if the government funds schools.

Young men of color are being attacked for no reason by police. The police officers are not being punished and are still among us walking free today. Deep in our heart, kids and adults know that it is not OK to injure people for the “crime” of their skin color. (Obviously, skin color is not a crime.) If kids can vote, we will start voting people into office who are sticking up for the rights of people of color as well as peaceful protesters of all races.

We kids must have a voice in how our nation — past, present and future — is run. We must move forward from the past and start a new era, one of equal rights and no climate change. Scientists have projected that if this disrespect of the planet, that has served as our home, goes on for 11 more years, the earth will be destroyed by climate change.

We must have leaders who are against climate change, who are fearless enough to speak out for what’s right, things not just to suit them but to suit the earth and every nation of this world. I don’t want to move to Mars. I like it here! We kids cannot live in a world ruined by generations before us.

If kids have the power to elect the adults we want, we can decide our future. The president of the United States impacts the future of generations of people and our beloved earth. Our leaders matter. If you are reading this and are an adult and are choosing which presidential candidate you will vote for, think about the children of the nation. Think about the children of the world. In this election, I hope you will vote for the presidential candidate who will make the planet a better place in the future. I’m a kid, and my mind counts.

Isadore Kleinman, age 10, is a Mt. Airy resident and student at the Project Learn School in Mt. Airy.