A study carried out by the World Vision Romania foundation shows that the majority of high school students in Romania are oriented to the left of the political axis and want the state to get more involved in ensuring their well-being. The conclusions of the research were explained by the psychologist Mihai Copăceanu.
Study on the ideological orientation of young people. Photo: World Vision Romania
The most contested issues among young people are compulsory military service (56 percent declared against it, 44 percent – for it), censorship on the Internet (55 percent are against, and 45 for pro) and legalization of homosexuality (53 percent for, 47 percent are against).
How young people see the Romanian state
“The majority of young high school students (78%) are value oriented to the left of the ideological axis. Over 90 percent of high school students want the state to ensure quality health for everyone, regardless of income, they want the state to ensure quality education, they want the state to guarantee the equal rights of citizens“, show the conclusions of the study carried out by the non-governmental organization World Vision Romania.
Most of the high school students interviewed believe that their vote matters or will matter, but the perceived level of information among young people regarding the role and prerogatives of the main political offices is sub-mediocre, the authors of the study conclude.
Most of the young people included in the research published by World Vision Romania believe that the environment must be protected at all costs, that the role of the state is to take care of every citizen, that every Romanian can do something for the development of the country and that the main role of the state is to guarantee the rights and freedoms of citizens and that the state should invest more in the public education system.
Conscription and censorship, topics of debate
Themes concerning individual rights and freedoms were the topics of interest where opinions were evenly divided. The most hotly contested issues are compulsory military service, at least among boys, Internet censorship and the legitimization of homosexuality, the study's authors add.
“One of the most interesting findings of this study is the significant difference between girls and boys in terms of value-ideological orientation. On the one hand, we have girls who increasingly assert values of individual rights, which reflect opinions on the role of women, the rights of sexual minorities, freedom of expression, and on the other hand, we have boys who embrace more conservative attitudes regarding these aspects”shows the study called “The ideological profile of Romanian high school students”.
The analysis focused on the orientation of high school students on the ideological axis, their projection on life, the evaluation of political interest and the identification of the level of knowledge of the role and prerogatives for the main eligible political positions in the 2024 electoral year in Romania, the authors of the research show.
“The study had a sample of 575 high school students from 34 counties from all regions of the country, including Bucharest-Ilfov, from both urban and rural areas“, World Vision Romania informed.
According to psychologist Mihai Copăceanu, young people's interest in politics has remained low in Romania, says psychologist Mihai Copăceanu.
“Even the authors of the study support the fact that the perceived level of information of young high school students regarding the role and prerogatives of the main political positions is sub-mediocre with an average of 4.58 points on a scale from 1 to 10. What does this result mean? That young people are not interested in politics, that apart from the mayor and the president they don't have much knowledge about other politicians and especially about the ideologies of some parties. And that more political education is needed,” he declared, for adevarul.ro. the psychologist Mihai Copăceanu.
Young people, confident in their own decisions
A positive aspect noted by psychologist Mihai Copăceanu is the confidence young people have in their own vote.
“Confidence in one's own forces is an attribute and a characteristic of age, but in reality the percentage of young people who show up to vote is particularly low, as evidenced by their low interest in elections and involvement in state decisions. There is a clear need to introduce more discussion topics about ideology, politics and the role of the state in school, not just with reference to a specific discipline. Without information, knowledge and a debate about the role of the state, it is obvious that in order to maintain personal, family, social and financial security someone must be responsible and the best answer is the state. The state should ensure our protection, health, well-being, but this does not automatically position young people in left-wing ideology”, says the psychologist Mihai Copăceanu.
The research also offers some reasons for optimism, one of the conclusions being that most young people believe that every citizen can do something for the development of the country.
“All the data requires an evaluation from the point of view of the meaning of the terms for young people. If we talk about censorship, the majority of high school students from rural areas (54 percent) are in favor of introducing censorship in the online environment. This does not mean that we are talking about an authoritarian state, where access to the Internet is limited and controlled, as we see in some dictatorial states. What the young people want to say is that there is a need for regulation of online content, for a form of censorship that ensures the quality of online information against fake news, toxic and mentally unhealthy information“, says psychologist Mihai Copăceanu.
