People who were once 16 explain to Speaker Nancy Pelosi why the voting age shouldn't be lowered

You might remember that we covered this very tweet just a couple of days ago, although it’s taken on new life today as more and more people add their own life experiences to video of Speaker Nancy Pelosi arguing that the voting age should be lowered to 16 “to capture kids.”

Here’s the video again:

.@SpeakerPelosi: It's "really important" to lower the voting age to 16. pic.twitter.com/cnUxSds1T3

— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) March 14, 2019

And here are some of the reasons people are giving on Saturday why that would be a bad idea.

When I was 16 my friends and I thought it was a great idea to climb up the statue of mother Mary onto the roof of Mary Mags through a trap door on the roof into the school at 11pm to “explore and shoot hoops”. Why on earth would you want people that age to vote? ???‍♂️ https://t.co/Igg9eAZVrB

— Medals_T (@let_me_MEDitate) March 16, 2019

I don’t know about this one. When I was 16 I was jumping out of one car into another car going 35-40 on the back roads. https://t.co/sL3ggUcdcu

— YalocalScum (@ItsZebediah) March 16, 2019

i’m sorry but this is so stupid. one time when i was 16 i walked up to every one of my friends at a party and told them if they didn’t punch me in the face they were a bitch https://t.co/xrG97m4rQv

— 6 (@youngjackdaniel) March 16, 2019

When I was 16 I bought a $400 piece of electrical equipment that I didn't understand and pawned it for $20 6mos later. https://t.co/pgbrBZQmar

— Alcoholic Matt ? Kage (@mattkg) March 16, 2019

When I was 16 I thought 311 was a good band https://t.co/5xpL5tUQpX

— John (@John_Arnone) March 16, 2019

when i was 15 i tried piercing my lips with a misfits pin. No. https://t.co/sclI6Dd0P9

— wes craven (@sailormoonica) March 16, 2019

@SpeakerPelosi When I was 16, I nearly blinded myself lighting a pile of magnesium shavings for fun. https://t.co/DFGufn9AER

— ✖️➗R➗✖️ (@PoorRandall) March 16, 2019

When I was 16, I threw a whole gallon of gas in the camp fire at my brothers house and almost set his whole backyard on fire https://t.co/zWdq1AwHzq

— joeymenci (@jmencii) March 16, 2019

When I was 16 my best friend and I would take a pitching wedge and see if we could hit a golf ball over the top of the trees and clear I-405. We were about 50/50 which means we hit hundreds of balls onto a major freeway and didn’t think twice about what if it hit a car…. https://t.co/S9drXtOIr3

— Matt Leonard (@CoachMLeonard) March 16, 2019

When I was 16, I drove a car with two people in the passenger seat, five in the backseat, and two in the trunk…because we all wanted to go to McDonald’s. https://t.co/2l83XFf5dW

— Derek Ryan (@longhornderek) March 16, 2019

When I was 16, I was wearing paper bags on my feet into a McDonald’s because I had lost my shoes earlier trying to get my truck out of a mud pit I had intentionally driven it into https://t.co/lixnth9S0K

— Cameron Wong (@CammyAlex) March 16, 2019

When I was 16, my friend and I blew weed smoke into the ceiling tiles at his house because we thought the smell would go in there and disappear https://t.co/j1c2eo82PN

— zach (@Z__Salk) March 16, 2019

When I was 16, my friends and I used to have Roman candles duels.

There was no ear or eye protection to be seen, of course. https://t.co/BjTPtesSUU

— Henry (@HMSPitts) March 16, 2019

When I was 16 I wore tye-dye shirts to class at least once a week and made Kanye West memes. https://t.co/e0W9LdGGv5

— Samantha C. Henson (@samhensonCA) March 16, 2019

At 16 I considered myself a literal anarchist https://t.co/woq8FlD0Ri

— Jonathan Lammey ?? (@Lammaaaayyyy) March 16, 2019

When I was 16 I stapled my arm for 5 bucks… more than once. Since then I’ve wisened up and my price gone up to 15. https://t.co/dpCbirKxuE

— Nathan Patel (@nathanpatel) March 16, 2019

At 16 me an the bros would light fireworks off in other people's homes??? so let's not let 16 year olds vote haha https://t.co/q6dsDl33hk

— Jacob C. Willis (@TheJockGod97) March 16, 2019

At 16 I thought Tide Pods were a healthy snack… https://t.co/E2MWgISFWy

— Baylor Cook (@j_baylorcook) March 16, 2019

I still ask my dad who to vote for and I’m 20. This is a bad bad bad idea https://t.co/NGLKyb4tl7

— Halaina Inman (@huhlaynuh_) March 16, 2019

When I was 16 I liked Obama only because “he talks nice and seems cool” https://t.co/y5OuZ8TYm0

— MB? (@Myah1997) March 16, 2019

When I was 16 I thought it was a good idea to wade through a pond instead of taking 30 seconds to walk around. On a cold November night. And that probably doesn't crack the top 50 stupidest things I did and thought then. https://t.co/JN9eMUPRTv

— Brendan O'Brien (@b_obrien09) March 16, 2019

16 year olds I know try making bombs out of aerosol cans… https://t.co/6YzXfHlsaV

— Justin (@JustinMarono) March 16, 2019

I’m legally not allowed to discuss what I was doing at 16. Bad idea. https://t.co/BwPDiItqGH

— Tommy Smooth (@TOMMYWORDEN27) March 16, 2019

When I was 16, I hadn't yet figured out that 'reindeer' didn't have to do with rain from the sky, but rather the fact that the deer were in actual reins. https://t.co/bbhLpIYtr8

— Rachel Williamson (@bebookled) March 16, 2019

When I was 16, my friends and I:
– missed our exit one day and didn’t realize it for an hour
– put pickle slices all over the seats of the visiting team bus
– thought it would be cool shoot water balloons at people we didn’t know https://t.co/9g9DTMPNKQ

— Chris Egan (@cwegan) March 16, 2019

When I was 16 my friends and I would actively see if we could scream loud enough to pass out… https://t.co/eFQGDXAZZx

— Emily (@emilzimm_) March 16, 2019

When I was 16 the people around me were smoking weed out of apples. https://t.co/vVzKElhsuM

— ?️ustin (@SouthKariya) March 16, 2019

When I was 16 I thought jumping off 421 Bridge into the lake was an outstanding idea (it was not) https://t.co/sI0aryGTtz

— Jake Jones??? (@CoachJonesUHS) March 16, 2019

I’m pretty sure when I was 16 I got on the roof of my friends vehicle going full speed down the road https://t.co/8CwKqYJs1s

— AJ (@ayjehclark) March 16, 2019

When I was 16 I was tapping shoulders trying to find someone to buy me a case for the bonfire party that would end with crushing a California burrito. Voting would have been a bad idea. https://t.co/WpL4mR8NcA

— J.R.S (@_JRS79) March 16, 2019

When I was 16 my friends and I put nair all over our chests and it gave us chemical burns, then my cousin bit into a chlorine tablet??‍♂️16 year olds should not be voting https://t.co/8uiUDr5io4

— Charlie Shaver??? (@shavaflav87) March 16, 2019

when I was 16 I drove 10 miles in reverse because it was Thursday https://t.co/UpxT3AdY7J

— Matt’s Idea Shop (@MattsIdeaShop) March 16, 2019

When I was 16 me and my friends went into PetSmart and bought a bunch of live mice and then let them loose in Kroger https://t.co/7x9mbkLWbL

— Andy Coggins (@andy_coggins) March 16, 2019

When I was 16, I drove my stick VW bug with bare tires in a snow storm at night over a bridge all alone did a donut on the way down kept going to get to my friends party. https://t.co/OGVIugQRuK

— Home Educator Darya Lisa (@Daryarva) March 16, 2019

When I was 16 my friends and I bought gallons of laundry detergent and ran around town pouring it in every water fountain we could find at parks, the mall, restaurants, apartment complexes…#wheniwas16 #VotingRights https://t.co/gDyumwQ8pn

— Beautyinthesinglemom (@BeautyntheLife) March 16, 2019

Since this is a thing today…

When I was 16, friends and I stole street signs. We also stole "gun free, drug free" sign from a local elementary school. https://t.co/KzeSLJbPKk

— live free or deb (@livefreeordeb) March 16, 2019

When I has 16 we thought it would be fun to see how far we could jump a van full of office furniture off a hill into the desert. We did this while standing in the back with all of the office furniture. It didn’t end well. https://t.co/tvVxKOqbCp

— Dread Pirate Darin (1/1024 actual pirate) (@ddogsbbq) March 16, 2019

When I was 16 I drove west for 3000 miles because Jim Morrison said the west is the best. I’m not sure 18 is old enough to vote. https://t.co/80G1webxUk

— sass?? (@WilsonJorja) March 16, 2019

When I was 16 I listened to Lincoln Park and owned a pair of cargo shorts https://t.co/Ti3JMi2YHM

— Morgan (@MoSokanhe) March 16, 2019

When I was sixteen me and my friends put on ski masks & hoodies and drew penises on the Drivers Ed car at 3 AM https://t.co/vyS7Qzf1Lk

— P Medlin (@MedlinPayton) March 16, 2019

Dude I was smoking resin out of gross pipe when I was 16 and I thought it was a good idea.
This isn’t a good idea https://t.co/81K0VsPsMP

— OMAR? (@omarthecoolguy) March 16, 2019

Thank goodness my small-town high school was littered with exceptional civics teachers and the whole student body was buzzing with intelligent political discuss…wait. That wasn't my high school at all. https://t.co/xhjuhtP6M4

— Zach Megee (@ZachMegee) March 16, 2019

When I was 16 my friends and I rolled a mini van into a ditch trying to drift. It's really not. https://t.co/DQ0lgTFMXT

— Travis (@Molley_23) March 16, 2019

When I was 16, a friend said, "here, take this, we'll be high for the next 20 hours." I said, "ok" https://t.co/AQebr5Bu3r

— BayAreaFrau (@bayareahausfrau) March 16, 2019

When I was 16, I got in 6 fender benders in 6 months. Every single one of them was my fault. https://t.co/ieCW9JnebX

— Allie Beth Stuckey (@conservmillen) March 16, 2019

When I was 16 y/o, my strict religious mom prohibited my ears getting pierced so I Krazy Glued fake pearls on my lobes for weeks, & got a rash later on

cc: @KrazyGlueExpert https://t.co/ta3zvcCdFk

— Hardline Stance (@Hardline_Stance) March 16, 2019

When i was 16 i thought socialism was good… pass https://t.co/ZS1cYJM696

— Eli ? (@EliezarGuillen) March 16, 2019

Politicians: “Let’s lower the voting age.”

Everyone who was ever 16, ever: “LUUUUULLLLLZZZZZZ!!!!!! NO!!!!” https://t.co/30Qei8tL4s

— Joshua Dorne (@joshuadorne) March 16, 2019

I teach Government to High Schoolers. This is a bad idea… https://t.co/fTcTChGLKp

— Will Lange (@WillTangClan) March 16, 2019

Every one of these people sounds bright enough to have run for Congress at 16, but voting? That can wait a couple more years.

In any case, here’s Rep. Ayanna Pressley’s poster intended to change your mind. Who do you believe?

From gun violence, to immigration reform, to climate change, to the future of work – our young people are organizing, mobilizing & calling us to action.

They have earned inclusion in our democracy. #ForThePeople #16toVote pic.twitter.com/EUsRSufdbi

— Rep Ayanna Pressley (@RepPressley) March 7, 2019

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