We’ve seen the posters around North Campus, prompting LT students to “get a VIP pass” to that wild, crazy concert of voter registration.

All of this is part of an initiative to get LT students to register and to vote. Yes, voting is very important, and I think that everyone should register and then vote. But maybe we should also do something in between.

You may also have heard of an organization called “Rock the Vote,” which describes itself as “the largest nonprofit and nonpartisan organization in the United States driving youth to the polls.”  That’s good but Rock the Vote and various news commentators tend to suggest that young voters are somehow special, in part because we are, well, young and one day, we will be the ones running this country.

But maybe we should push back on the idea that we’re special simply because we are young. Commenting on the “youth vote,” syndicated columnist Jonah Goldberg put it a little more directly. “It is a simple fact of science that nothing correlates more with ignorance and stupidity than youth. We are all born idiots, and we only get over that condition as we get less young,” Goldberg said in an interview.

Strong words, but it’s hard to argue with the point that being young really doesn’t give any of us any unique or useful insight or knowledge. If Goldberg is wrong, why in the world have I spent the last 10-plus years of my life in school, and why is it so important for me to go to college and, perhaps, graduate school before Goldman Sachs is at all interested in what I have to say?

And what about that “youth” movement for Kanye 2020? Who honestly believes Kanye West and Kim Kardashian would successfully lead our country?

So, let’s be wary when we hear the suggestion that our youth gives us some special insight. We should also resist the notion that young people should vote a certain way or support a certain candidate because, well, that’s the young person’s candidate.

Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has a website entirely dedicated to “get out the vote” efforts for younger voters. On his site, voters are given a friendly reminder in bold text that “you’ll still need to vote” on Nov. 8 even if you vote in the primaries, that “[primaries] are between candidates of the same party” as opposed to the general election, and that the winner of the primaries gets the party’s nomination. I’m sorry, but if you need to be reminded basic facts about how American democracy works, how can you justify voting?

Don’t get me wrong—I’m not suggesting that any young person should not vote. I’m simply suggesting that our votes really shouldn’t be about us as young people. Some experiences, like participating in sports or going to prom, are good opportunities for us to appreciate how great it is to be young and that these years are among the best of our lives. Voting, however, is not an opportunity to celebrate or to display our youthfulness.

I do think that voting is a fairly serious obligation. Wars have been waged to secure our form of government, and prior to the Civil Rights Movement, many people faced violence when they tried to exercise their right to vote. So, yes, it’s important to vote. But it’s equally important to inform yourself a bit on exactly what you are doing. Please register to vote if you can, and please vote in the Illinois primary on March 15. But in the meantime, everyone should take care of their other civic obligation by informing themselves on the issues and the candidates. Read the newspaper, watch the news, embrace the opportunity to learn and be attentive to candidate debates. Cast an informed vote, not a young one.