by Morticia Alexander

Created on: July 18, 2009

What is age? Is it just a number? Is it a tried and true definer of one's capabilities? More importantly, how does age affect one's place in society? Unfortunately, to an extent, age does affect your place in society. You must be eighteen to vote, sixteen to drive...but what about what lies below the surface of the laws? How old do you really have to be to have your opinion validated? How old do you have to be before you can have a voice, or a place in society? And in response, is that how it should be?

When you go to an amusement park, you often see signs stating: you must be this tall to ride. Isn't that how society is, minus the blatant signs? On the surface, it seems like just a standard rule for safety, just like the this tall signs at an amusement part; however, under the surface, it is really saying: you must be this old to matter.

Why is it that age is the definer of one's place? Is it because of maturity? Intelligence? That is what most people will tell you it is about; however, this is not a valid or legitimate statement. There are minors in this world who can run circles around many adults in maturity and intelligence. There are many people under the age of eighteen who have better and more effective strategies for running this country than even our own government does. Clearly maturity is not really a factor. Neither is intelligence. So what, then, is the magic of age? Why are so many people so focused on making age a tangible decision-making factor?

If you look around with open eyes in our society, it is easy to see how much the opinions of minors are discounted and ignored. In studies and surveys, participants are often limited to those who are eighteen or older. Is that not their way of saying that the opinions of people under the age of eighteen do not matter? The evidence is all around you...it is important that you open your eyes and see it.

Disregarding the opinions of minors solely because of age is nothing short of prejudice. It is no different whatsoever than disregarding the opinions of women, men, African Americans, etc. solely based on factors that are beyond their control. Nobody can choose to be a man or a woman, white or black, or what age they want to be. Those are all factors that are equally beyond his or her control.

There is nothing more suffocating than having a valid opinion and having it disregarded because of some factor having nothing to do with the issue at hand. There is nothing more demeaning than being silenced by the hands of bigotry and prejudice. Would you want to have your voice muted because of your race or sex? No. Nobody wants to be silenced. The opinions of minors are just as valid as anyone else's, and it is unjust to disregard them solely based on a number that means nothing in the scheme of things.

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