MBN’s audition show UNDER FIFTEEN garners backlash over child exploitation and styling

MBN’s new audition program, UNDER FIFTEEN, has drawn a lot of criticism despite not having gone live yet. The show has already been involved in a number of scandals, ranging from the trainees’ age range to their unsuitable hairstyle.

Co-production CEO Hwang In Young sobbed during a show production briefing, asserting that the participants and their parents will experience a profound emotional impact.

Netizens dropped stark comments like:

• “Stop talking nonsense. Seriously, the parents who let their kids appear on this show are committing child abuse.”
• “I say this carefully, but rather than having even one of these kids grow up suffering like Sae Ron after being exposed on TV, it’s better for the show to be canceled now, even if it’s upsetting. In a society that can’t even properly punish people like Kim Soo Hyun, how can they think making a show like this is the right thing to do? If we truly had an environment where kids were protected from being sexualized, a program like this wouldn’t even exist.”
• “Let kids grow up like kids.”
• “If they appear on the show, the emotional damage will be even worse.”
• “Act like an adult.”
• “We’ve turned a blind eye little by little, and this is where we’ve ended up. We need to put a stop to this now.”
• “Stop crying everywhere. Does crying change anything? Instead of exploiting kids in such a disgusting way, try protecting them.”
• “If they had any sense, they wouldn’t even produce a show like this.”

The show is scheduled to premiere later this month, and the producers have not yet announced any plans to cancel it.