by Sean Mcintosh

Created on: August 02, 2011   Last Updated: August 03, 2011

I am writing this from an avid teenage political follower point of view and I would be very disheartened to find out that political candidates would accept money from children in order to fund their campaigns or whatever they might be wanting public funding. In today's political world where people are so easily influenced by our own political leaders and have trouble finding what they truly believe in, I would not trust political candidates taking money from children. If we take a moment to think, how hard is it to get money out of a 14 year old by saying, "That guy in office now is hurting you and your family but if you would donate 25 dollars to my campaign I will make sure that I will keep my focus completely on you and making sure you have the best education, health-care for your parents and Medicaid for your grandpa and grandma." 9 times out of 10 that 14 year old would seriously consider whether to donate to you or not and because they might not have experienced politicians not always staying true to their promise, for there is always complications when it comes to politics, and a 14 year old might not know the difference and no doubt would any child be very enthused about giving their money away to a politician running for office.

However there are politicians such as Barack Obama who would not accept donations unless the donor was 16 years old or above. Quite frankly it comes down to a system of morals and how the politician feels about having minors donate to their political campaigns. There have been instances such as when John McCain in 2002 requesting the Supreme Court to ban minors from donating to political campaigns and I do have a certain respect for politicians who refuse money from minors. Especially when we talk about when we want what is best for the upcoming generation and go into talks about making sure they will have enough money for the future or if they will be financially stable by the age of 18. But then you might have a politician who might have made a statement pertaining the betterment of our newest generation saying that we need to help them but, might turn around and be accepting political donations from minors. 

It also puts a great pressure on the parents even though it must be the minors own money and they must be willing to say that they want to donate their own money towards a certain campaign. The parent, who would have much more experience with how the political system works and how it conducts itself would certainly be worried that his/her child's money is a worthless investment and quite often it turns out to be true unless that person that they invested their money in wins the election. And I am sure all the parents out there would much rather have their son or daughter saving that money for a future college fund, savings fund, or even buying that latest video game rather than have them letting their kids donating to a political campaign.

Overall I firmly believe that politicians should not accept money from minors nor allow minors to contribute to political campaigns. 

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