Thoughts on underaged Idols

[oooshescrying]

With the news of HR Entertainment's new girl group CooKie debuting within days, it had me thinking about all the underaged idols. Should these idols truly be idols at this age? What about their childhood and schooling? Should we encourage more underaged idols? What are your thoughts?

CooKie is a predebut girlgroup consisting of 5 members, with the average age of 13. They will debut on the 15th of this month.

Underaged idols aren't a new thing, we have had a lot of idols debut within their teen years, for example;
Jisung (NCT) (debuted at 14)
Win (MCND) (debuted at 15)
Jowoochan (Solo) (debuted at 13)
Boy Story (oldest was born in 04 and youngest 07)
Maknae Line of Weeekly (04-05)
Etc.

 

[enhypen_jay]

this is something that has been bothering me so much recently, I genuinely don't think minors should be allowed to debut. the whole thing with some engenes sexualising ni-ki even tho he's only 15 is so disgusting and I know its a fan problem not an idol problem but I just feel really bad for underaged idols when things like this happen - ofc they also use the internet so imagine how they would feel if they stumbled across something where they were being sexualised, it would be so uncomfortable for them. hence I don't think underaged kids should be put into the spotlight until they're of legal age. the whole sexualisation of underaged kids isn't even something that's uncommonly seen in kpop and its so sickening I don't know what goes through peoples heads.

 

[LostInTheDream]

I would prefer if idols didn't debut until they became legal adults.
But I think that if they consent to it and their guardians do as well it's fine. But they should always be allowed to back out if they find it too difficult. I'm not sure what kind of child labor laws they have in South Korea, but I know they can't be on broadcast past 10pm I think. I would hope they had laws limiting how long children could work during a day.

 

[skzlvr]

I would prefer if idols didn't debut until they became legal adults.
But I think that if they consent to it and their guardians do as well it's fine. But they should always be allowed to back out if they find it too difficult. I'm not sure what kind of child labor laws they have in South Korea, but I know they can't be on broadcast past 10pm I think. I would hope they had laws limiting how long children could work during a day.

i also feel the same way and people sexualize them way too often and like to say "well I'm the same age as them" as an excuse. They get sexualized so often and it's not okay

 

[Lucifer]

<div class="bbWrapper">Um as a underage kid I will say &quot;The Gooder things that seem the riskers they are...&quot;....&quot;...And we are the 'people' that couldn't panic nor scared...STILL STAND IN THE SKY WHILE OUR DREAMS BURN AND WE REBUILD THEM FOR OUR SAKE OF OUR SOULS....&quot;</div>

 

[Chonker_Laurence]

I'd say naww till they're older since it might be very stressing for them whether they show it or not. Unless they don't care but for the most part I don't think its best. Ye

 

[cix.sense]

With the news of HR Entertainment's new girl group CooKie debuting within days, it had me thinking about all the underaged idols. Should these idols truly be idols at this age? What about their childhood and schooling? Should we encourage more underaged idols? What are your thoughts?

CooKie is a predebut girlgroup consisting of 5 members, with the average age of 13. They will debut on the 15th of this month.

Underaged idols aren't a new thing, we have had a lot of idols debut within their teen years, for example;
Jisung (NCT) (debuted at 14)
Win (MCND) (debuted at 15)
Jowoochan (Solo) (debuted at 13)
Boy Story (oldest was born in 04 and youngest 07)
Maknae Line of Weeekly (04-05)
Etc.

I dont really care, but the other side of fandoms ruin it, or make it...weird :|

 

[yunaing]

Aight so in conclusion, if the idol, company and guardians have no problem with it, it’s not our place as fans to tell them what they can and cannot do. They know themselves better than we do, and so it’s not our business to dictate their lives.

That being said, as a minor myself (16) I still know very much about how the brain of a 16 year old (and a bit younger) works. Idk if it’s the same in Korea but I know for a fact in the UK there is this desperation to be older than you are. Girls will often wear more revealing clothes young, and a lot of people start wanting to smoke and do drugs etc etc. I can imagine that if this wanting to be older than you are mindset exists within the minors of Korea also, becoming an idol is probably something that if they’ve already had dreams of doing for a while, they’d start a lot younger.

Unfortunately, the idol life is a lot more nasty than what we see on the surface, and sadly a lot of grown idols who most likely went into it with a clearer understanding of what was expected still get shocked by the realities of it once their group is popular. There’s only so much their companies can prepare them for.
While an adult may be able to deal with excessive hate, a teenager probably wouldn’t.
While an adult may be able to deal with fans with 0 boundaries, a teenager probably wouldn’t.
While an adult may be able to deal with creepy comments and media, a teenager probably wouldn’t.

Like I said, it’s not really a fan’s business to dictate what they can and can’t do, and also they might have this never ending passion for wanting to debut young, but unlike a lot of discussions in the industry it’s one thing I’m actually against than neutral on

 

[strawberry🍓]

All I can say is that they shouldn’t debut at all until they reach the legal age to do so. Also, education should be waaaay much more important for them than having to risk their whole adolescence dealing with a toxic environment/industry, facing child exploitation, and having to deal with some weird fans and non-fans that will make sexual comments about or towards them. Like they’re already missing out on sooo many important things if not for education. And we’ve seen many idols that have debuted at a very young age admitting that they regret not spending their adolescence in school.
I doubt the system and idea of minors debuting is gonna change at anytime soon, since this has been happening for decades not just for the kpop industry - but around the world (including the west).

 

[MintChocoChaewon]

Aight so in conclusion, if the idol, company and guardians have no problem with it, it’s not our place as fans to tell them what they can and cannot do. They know themselves better than we do, and so it’s not our business to dictate their lives.

That being said, as a minor myself (16) I still know very much about how the brain of a 16 year old (and a bit younger) works. Idk if it’s the same in Korea but I know for a fact in the UK there is this desperation to be older than you are. Girls will often wear more revealing clothes young, and a lot of people start wanting to smoke and do drugs etc etc. I can imagine that if this wanting to be older than you are mindset exists within the minors of Korea also, becoming an idol is probably something that if they’ve already had dreams of doing for a while, they’d start a lot younger.

Unfortunately, the idol life is a lot more nasty than what we see on the surface, and sadly a lot of grown idols who most likely went into it with a clearer understanding of what was expected still get shocked by the realities of it once their group is popular. There’s only so much their companies can prepare them for.
While an adult may be able to deal with excessive hate, a teenager probably wouldn’t.
While an adult may be able to deal with fans with 0 boundaries, a teenager probably wouldn’t.
While an adult may be able to deal with creepy comments and media, a teenager probably wouldn’t.

Like I said, it’s not really a fan’s business to dictate what they can and can’t do, and also they might have this never ending passion for wanting to debut young, but unlike a lot of discussions in the industry it’s one thing I’m actually against than neutral on

I agree with that!

 

[HyungwonsBlondeBangs]

tbh it makes me feel like I need to get a life. because why are they almost debuting people two years younger than me-