The 'Youth Pledges' Seen by First-Time High School Senior Voters

Opinions Divided on Converting Special-Purpose High Schools to General High Schools...Support for Pledges Addressing Youth Part-Time Job Issues

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jin-young] The 'voting intention' of high school seniors voting in the April 15 general election has emerged as a variable due to the lowering of the voting age. Each political party has competed to present youth-tailored pledges. How do 18-year-old senior voters evaluate the youth pledges of the 21st general election? We directly heard their voices. The interviews were conducted in writing with eight high school seniors (4 females, 4 males) residing in the metropolitan area.

On the 3rd, high school students are looking at a banner posted by the Seoul Metropolitan Election Commission about the expansion of voting rights to 18-year-olds in front of Dongseong High School in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

"Politicians seem to not understand our interests well." "The pledges are written in a difficult way. They are abstract and unfriendly, making them hard to understand at once." Youth voters generally evaluated the pledges as disappointing. Since they are preparing for college entrance exams, their main interest is 'education.' This is also closely related to how youths perceive fairness. Students agreed that aside from contentious issues such as expanding the regular admission system and converting specialized high schools to general high schools, there are few pledges regarding career paths, schools, and private academies.

Evaluations of the Democratic Party and the United Future Party were divided according to their stance on converting specialized high schools to general high schools. The Democratic Party proposed "converting autonomous private high schools, foreign language high schools, and international high schools to general high schools" as a pledge for the 21st general election. In contrast, the United Future Party advocated for "maintaining specialized high schools and strengthening the competitiveness of general high schools."

How do students evaluate the Democratic Party's education pledges? Kim Min-seo (18), a high school student in Gunpo, Gyeonggi Province, gave high marks first for the conversion of specialized high schools to general high schools. She said, "General high schools are much weaker than specialized high schools in curriculum, quality of classes, and extracurricular activities," and added, "Whether it is early admission or regular admission, the gap inevitably affects outcomes. For equal education, generalization is necessary," expressing a positive evaluation.

The pledge to create 'future-type smart schools,' where students and teachers participate in designing learning and rest spaces, also received good marks. Choi Mo (18), a high school student in Gunpo, Gyeonggi Province, said, "Our school conducted a student-led space innovation project, and the response from all students was positive," adding, "The classroom, which felt like a square prison, transformed into a space where we want to stay. It is an effective pledge."

Students who support maintaining specialized high schools gave high marks to the United Future Party. Shin Mo (18), a high school student in Gunpo, Gyeonggi Province, said, "From the perspective of a senior student experiencing changes in the curriculum, radical changes such as abolition or conversion are likely to cause confusion." He also positively evaluated the United Future Party's pledge to "strengthen teachers' authority," saying, "I have often witnessed teachers' authority being infringed under the name of student rights. Laws that can guarantee this are necessary."

The Minsheng Party and the Justice Party generally received good evaluations for "understanding well what students need." Although there were concerns that the Minsheng Party's "expansion of regular admissions" is "not necessarily the answer," many students said, "In the midst of controversies such as exam paper leaks, regular admissions are the fairest method." 'Teacher retraining' and 'state support for tuition at national and public universities' were also cited as good pledges. The Justice Party's pledge addressing unpaid wages for high school students' part-time jobs also received support.

However, the Minsheng Party's pledge to "expand regional equal selection and social consideration candidate selection" divided opinions between "a method to make local areas and the metropolitan area fair" and "the gap has disappeared due to the activation of online lectures, so it is reverse discrimination." Regarding the Justice Party's pledge to lower the voting age to 16 or below, concerns were raised, saying, "We have gained voting rights, but we worry whether we can do well."

Regarding women's pledges, everyone criticized regardless of gender, saying, "Have they ever kept their pledges?" The experiences of female idols suffering from malicious comments and the recent 'Nth Room' issue influenced this. Strengthening punishment for juvenile offenders, regulating private education, and reducing performance evaluations were selected as disappointing pledges for being omitted.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.