Should teenagers be allowed to vote?

Teenagers do not all act the same way or think the same way as each other. Some are mature and some have no idea what they are doing and do not care about the consequences.Sometimes there are teenagers that have the capacity to behave like a mature adult. I have personally met people my age who seem to have that adult mentality where everything is serious. I think that most teenagers have the capacity to act mature enough to vote. I think adults make generalizations about us. They see one of us doing something immature, and they think we are all like that, but that is also a generalization; not all adults think that about us. I think that teenagers should be allowed to vote.

Teenagers are a big part of the population in this country. I think that if teenagers could vote, the results of politics would be a little different. It is true that young teenagers are probably not ready for voting, which is something really important in society. Teenagers start to become more mature as they get older. My point is that the voting age should be lowered to sixteen. Even fifteen would be okay. 

For example, in ASTI, we start to see freshmen and sophomores think critically in their work about things that matter in the world such as family, college (higher education), environment, politics, etc. We put our own opinion, and a lot of times people (adults) are impressed by us. We are like young adults. Teenagers work, since we can start working at that age. As said in this article, some of us hold part-time jobs,
some drive, and pay taxes, and seventeen year old teens even serve in the army. The why can't those who work and pay taxes vote?

At schools, there are school governments with the same idea of a normal government, except that they are run by students. If teenagers can vote for something like that, then why wouldn't they be able to vote in real elections? Teenagers that are sixteen or older (maybe fifteen) should be able to vote. There should be some kind of requirements for teenagers, maybe a test or something that can prove that they are ready to vote. That would be a fair thing to do. 


After all, isn't a democracy "a government of the people, by the people, for the people", and aren't we people?

What am I going to do this summer?

I have been thinking lately about what I will do this summer of 2011. I will probably have to take a college class again. I am interested on an art class, but I'm not sure about what I will take. I want to travel a lot. That is what I want the most. My parents are thinking about sending my brother and I to Brazil for a few weeks but we don't know yet. I'd love to go to Brazil, plus now that I know a little Portuguese and I can undestand it almost perfectly would make it good. But we are not sure about that yet, so maybe this summer or in 2014 for the world cup which will be there. I can't wait for that. I like Alameda, but last summer I spent 99% of the timehere and it got boring. I wanted to go out of Alameda badly. I'm excited for summer because we don't have school, but I am not excited about the annoying hot weather; I hate it. Summer is not my favorite time of the year, but unfortunately that's when I get a long break from school. Not when it's all nice and cold.
Um, I also want to hang out with friend and with Amber too! She won't be here most if the time though, she will be far away all summer, again. I want to play soccer. I want to spend more time with my brother too. I want to go to my grandma's house in Santa Cruz. I love it there, it's beautiful. I love the ocean.
I don't want to do community service stuff. Even though when I help others it makes me feel good about myself, I do not want to do anything like that, simply because it is boring. I don't like doing boring stuff when I don't have school.
Oh! One thing I don't want to do this summer is homework. I don't like homework during summer. It reminds me of school. If it was only, for example, a day of homework (3-5 hours) I would do it. When we have to do homework at least one day per week, that is annoying. I know it is good for us to practice for school and critical think but I just don't like it. So I'm not looking up to that this summer...
I want my summer to be fun, I want to remember this summer. Traveling would make me happy :)

Response to Carly's response to "Sleep"

I love to sleep, and what carly said on her "Sleep" post.

 I am doing my post wayyy earlier than I am supposed to because I know I won't have time tomorrow or Friday. So, I found this post especially appealing because it is about sleep. Right now it is eleven something and I yearn to sleep early, at least once. There are many symptoms to lack of sleep, much that I have now and will have tomorrow at school. They include: dark ugly circles under the eyes, slight wrinkles under those, hazy unfocused lenses, dizziness, discoloration, and thirstiness. Without sleep, people can look old and worn out. The cause of this is homework and procrastination. Right now, I have to continue with homework and deal with all these symptoms. I might just take a nap...

I am actually really sleepy right now, but I have to do this. I am really tired because I had a soccer game after school and came home late. I started doing this at 11 but fell asleep :(
Okay, so yeah, I usually get home from school between 4 and 5, and I don't start doing my homework until like an hour after, even though my plan always is to start it right away. I wait and eat, then start on my homework and then I start socializing and getting distracted. Or I am just sleepy and simply can't do it (how convenient).
Then sometimes I don't get all my work done by the time I go to bed or by the time I am really tired ad I end up waking up early in the morning to finish whatever I have left. Then there is a problem; I fall asleep during math class, science class and writing class. Once lunch starts I kind of wake up and feel ready to start my day.
When I sleep a lot, I don't get enough time to do my work. Sometimes I just can't sleep at night and so I don't get enough sleep. Sleeping is one of the things I love to do the most, but I don't like it that my sleeping schedule is ruined because of homework. Or because I'm slow at doing it. That just means I have to put more effort into it and start doing it before. Well, I'm sleepy now..

There are too many distractions!!

One of the biggest problems I have is getting distracted when I am trying to focus on something important. It doesn't matter why is is. Everytime I do homework, when I draw, when I study, when I try to clean my room. There are always distractions.
When I am at school, I always get distracted and that is because I stet talking. Most if the time I am quiet and I pay attention, but when I get distracted, it's hard to focus back on my work.
Then I get home, and I am usually tired, wishing I could go to bed right away. I count how many hours I have until I have to go to bed and then I think about how much homework I have and then I predict how long it'll take me to finish all of it or if I will have to wake up early in the morning to finish it. Most of the time I have more than enough time to finish all my homework before 9pm or 10pm. I just get so distracted. One of the distractions I have is Facebook. I go on it everyday and it's hard for me to stop using it because like I talked about on my other post, it is addictive. So I spend some time on facebook, but not like before. I have learned to use it in a moderate way. Also, I start playing videogames. If it was up to me, I wouldn't do any homework and just come home and play all afternoon and night until I go to bed. But I also get distracted just by staring into space. I just lay on my bed and think. I stare at things for minutes and minutes and I waste a lot of time by doing that.
When I draw, I am usually sitting down on a desk, and half way through the drawing I get bored and just sit there for a while, not doing anything.
I get distracted a lot when I study. BecYse I try to memorize stuff without looking at the actual thing I'm learning the stuff from, I have to look away and try to think about that thing. When I do thy, I get lost sometimes because I often start to think about other stuff. I start thinking about anything else, and then I get bored. I start forgetting what I study and it all goes bad. Even small things such as a pen are distracting. I start playing with the pen as throwing it in the air, and that takes time. That time is wasted.
I always get distracted when I do things daily. I procrastinate a lot and I want to stop doing it. I need to manage my time better.

ASTI constitution

There are bullies everywhere, and innocent students are bullied everyday all around Alameda in every school. I read a few reflections, but in  Regina Moore's reflection i found a quote that caught my eye. I think that this quote reflects the constitution: 

"I have the self confidence to not have to care about the opinions of others, but many people do not obtain this same ability and I do not expect everyone to act in that way because everybody is different."

Some people have the courage to stand up for themselves, while others don't. In Regina's case, she has the ability to stand up for herself and to not let anyone put her down. I am mostly focusing on #6 from the constitution: "Speak up for yourself and others". I think that this is one of the most important ones from the ten listed on the ASTI constitution. This is the best thing to do when being bullied, it's the best defense.

As Regina's quote states that everyone is different, that is true. Everyone has their own way of dealing with their problems. It is also ignoring the bullies if you don't step up for yourself. For example, I know Regina and I know she stands up for herself and sometimes for other, she has that courage, but she also ignores when people bother her. I am different, I just try ignoring people and when I get mad, sometimes I stand up for myself. I have noticed that I stand up for others more than I stand up for myself.

The constitution was made by students for students to follow and I think that it is unfair that the same people that made it, still bully others. Life is a mirror, so I think that whatever you do to someone, will always come back to you somehow. So if you are a bully, then someone else will bully you the same way you bullied them, and if you respect others, which is the best thing to do, then what you will get back from others, is respect. I think that being a good influence is also good. If people see other people treat eachother with respect, then they'll do the same. It's just a matter of time and patience.

We need to stand up for ourselves and others, so the bullying issue can stop at ASTI and also in other places or schools. Show who you really are!