Minority Report

Let us renegotiate the way we treat and discriminate against minors in this country. I always hated the way I was treated when I was younger. Even now that I'm older, I still resent the way I was treated now that I realized there was no good reason for treating me and my peers that way except for the fact of trying to hold onto control of a population group.

• Change the high school graduation/work/voting age to 15.

By forcing schools to teach the same concepts in a shorter amount of time, 10 years rather than 13 years, this makes students more competitive with other countries. The students can then start college/trade school at 15/16 years old and be in the job market within two-four years.

The decisions of politicians greatly effect the youth. They should have an equal voice under the law.

• Change the drinking/smoking age to 15.

Why do we criminalize youth for partaking in the things adults do? Studies have proven that anti-sin/abstinence programs don't work; let's educate not mandate the dangers of these life choices. Plus, we'll be able to teach our kids how to respect alcohol before they learn to drive, not after...

• Change the driving/contract/gambling age to 20.

Teens take more risks when they drive than adults do. Let's raise the driving age and just keep them off the road and alive. This will also lower insurance premiums nation wide. In addition to this, let's ban age premiums and rental bans since minors will no longer be driving. This is a form of age discrimination that is not based on any science. Driving is a privileged, not a right.

The right to enter into a contract should be after a person has had a chance to experience college/trade school/work a bit, thus maybe understanding the issues surrounding a contract or bargain. This can be extended to games of chance; most youth do not understand the risks involved in games of chance, by time their 20, they should be able to understand.

• Change the military age to 20, and make it compulsory.

Let's allow the youth more time to acquire skills and education before we ask them to die for something they most likely do not understand. After high school, a person will do 5 years of education/training/exploring and then be required to serve for two years in the military. This would make our military about 8 million strong (2 million Sailors, 2 million Soldiers/Marines , 2 million Airmen, 2 million Guardsmen). The military could then take over the role of border patrol, immigration, disaster relief, port authorities and import/export cargo inspections. The current military during peace (war) time is only 1.5 (1) million strong. This would give us the most educated military in the world, the largest in the world and provide an opportunity to do real good-will missions in order to win the hearts and minds of the rest of the world.

• Change the criminal age to 20.

There is an overwhelming amount of empirical evidence in psychology/psychiatry that the human mind is not completely developed until around 20 years old. The part that develops last is the ability to understand cause and reaction relationships. This means that very few people under the age of 20 realize what effect their actions cause. Their minds have yet to develop well enough to understand the true ramifications of right and wrong. Thus we need to change our penal code to reflect this. How can we send a 15 year old person to prison for years when his/her brain hasn't yet matured enough for him/her to really understand what they did?