Seniors, you’ve either had or are about to have a very important birthday. Turning 18 means you’re an adult, and there’s a couple of things you need to have on your radar right away: registering for the selective service (men), and registering to vote (everyone).
In America it is mandatory for all men who turn 18 years of age to sign up for selective service. If you’re not aware of what selective service is, you are signing a paper or document stating that you will serve your time if draft day comes. There isn’t anything wrong with doing this, but there are also some double standards. One of them being if a male is in college he is not required per the government to be drafted until he is done with college. And to me this kind of makes me feel as if people who don’t go to college are less valuable in the eyes of the government. Also, if you refuse to sign these papers you will be fined $250,000 or 5 years in prison. America has around 1.3 million active-duty soldiers not counting reserves, so it is unlikely that we would need a draft, but you have to sign up anyway. Wars nowadays aren’t fought the same way anymore. It’s all technology-based warfare which also means you don’t need as many troops, which may be why we haven’t had a draft since after Vietnam in 1973. However, some sources say we may be moving closer.
And this brings me to my next topic which is will men who have been drafted will need to have the readiness to fight. War is probably the worst thing anyone could experience due to things soldiers have to see and do. I feel the people who didn’t sign up for boot camp had reasons for not doing that. It takes a calling to be a soldier, and for many, that calling isn’t theirs. There is a certain type of mindset needed to go out and take another person’s life. New challenges will arise during war, and most are built for these types of changes, and it leads to bad PTSD and sadly suicides.Aalso, the physical part of war/combat is not what a normal citizen trains for daily. These men go from regular jobs to running and shooting for long periods of time. And that’s just the cold hard truth.
The next topic we are writing about is women selective service, or is that crossing the line? As you know from past text men who turn 18 sign their selective service papers but when do women have to sign these papers? The answer is never. Women who turn 18 are not required to register for the draft. This makes sense to some, but to others it doesn’t due to the fact that we do have women who are currently serving in almost all parts of our armed forces. Many don’t understand why the Selective Service is still only mandatory to men, even calling it discrimination. Some women take this to heart because they have served and believe that if men are forced so should women. but the other side says well women aren’t as physical as men or have the mentality to do some of these task.
But there is one thing that all 18 year olds should do, men and women. While there isn’t a fine for this one, that shouldn’t matter. As soon as you turn 18, register to vote! there are ways to sign up for the selective service and also the ability to vote all you have to do is go and visit the Hamilton County Board of Elections website. You will need your driver’s license number and the last four digits of your social security number to get the process started. You can register if you are going to turn 18 before the next general election, which is Tuesday, November 4th, 2026.
