The debut of minors in the Kpop business is a hot topic of discussion. Some fight against it, while others encourage it. This month, I interviewed various people to discuss this topic with us! We've seen many examples of young people making their debut in Kpop, and some of them (or should I say most of them) didn't fare so well, with people sexualizing them or just hating on them! Some students were unable to attend school because of idol work. Should 14-year-olds be working or attending school? Hmmmm, I'll let our interviewees respond to that!
Let's start with our interviews! 
TOPIC: Minors debuting in Kpop
QUESTION #1
What do you think the minimum age of debuting idols should be?
16, at the minimum.
ultraaviolet
Overall I don't think there should be a limit on the debut age of an idol. If I had to pick one it would be 13.
prodigy210
I believe that the minimum age for an idol to debut should be 17-18.
itsymoo
QUESTION #2
If minors make their debut, do you think it's okay to have full-grown adults in their groups as well? (Example; 15 year old with 26 year old)
I think its fine to have adults in the same group as minors and tbh its very common in the industry. What I wouldn't be fine with is a group doing mature concepts when they have minors.
ultraaviolet
Yes i think its fine to have adults debut with minors. Even if you debut a group full of minors eventually one of the members will be an adult and the rest minors. Also it can be beneficial for a group to have adults in the group for leadership and guidance.
prodigy210
Hmm This a really good question, I feel yes it is ok. My reason to this is that, this grown adult is most likely going to be the most mature out of the group and will most likely now how to handle the youngest if a certain situation happen.
itsymoo
QUESTION #3
What additional steps should companies take to ensure the safety of their younger idols?
1. ensuring clothing/dance/concept is appropriate
2. allow underage idols to go to school consistently
3. regulate the amounts of hours they work/train for
ultraaviolet
1. Ban minors form entering into groups with explicit sexy concepts like Girl Crush. I understand it can be difficult to ban minors completely from sexy concept since there can be a debate to what is and is not sexy. For example people debate about le sserafim whether that was ok or not. But explicit activities such as Girl Crush shouldnt be up for debate and out right banned for minors.
2. In a thread we were discussing this topic a law such as the jackie coogan law was brought up. I think that would be a good regulation to add for companies to set aside a certain percentage of income into a trust account until the idol is of legal age.
3. Set a limit to the amount of debt a company can force an idol to pay off. I understand that it would be impossible for small companies to completely eliminate trainee debt but their should be a limit and what the idol is paying off should be transparent.
prodigy210
They should make sure that their youngest idol privacy is respect mostly at school from both the students that attend the school and from outsiders. Another thing is to make sure their younger idols aren't both Sexualised or aren't being shower with toxic hatred comments. I also believe that the companies should also focus on their younger Idols mental health (Like they should with any of their artist tbh) and give them breaks. (I'm not really sure if this makes sense lol)
itsymoo
QUESTION #4
Do you think that debuting minors should be illegal?
I would like it to be, but realistically it won't happen.
ultraaviolet
prodigy210
Until a Certain age yes I feel like that will be the only way for kpop companies to stop debuting really young idols.
itsymoo
QUESTION #5
Do you think it's appropriate for minors to perform for adults? (With concepts like "girl crush")
I don't think it's appropriate for minors to perform for ANYONE with inappropriate concepts. I don't think the girl crush concept in general, is that bad. But a sexualized concept would be a big no.
ultraaviolet
Depends on what you mean by perform for adults. If your talking about room salons, adult clubs, or 19+ festivals such as water bomb than no. If your just talking about regular festivals or concerts than yes.
prodigy210
This may seem like an easy one word answer question but it really is not because behind there are also other questions that can be asked such as "what if they are ok with it?" or "what if their parents allow it and see no problem with it?". In my opinion, I truly believe that It is not appropriate for Minors to be Joining this types of groups, by allowing this teens to join this groups it will allowed for this wave of oversexualisation of minors to become more big, we are already suffering with this types of things imagine if groups like this were more normalized?
itsymoo
Do you agree, disagree? Please share your thoughts and feel free to respond to the questions yourself. Also, keep an eye out because YOU might be the next user to be interviewed. We'll see you next month. 
