High school boys trending conservative, bucking narrative of liberal youth

Young men in high school are increasingly likely to identify as conservative, according to recent data showing the demographic defying the notion that youth increasingly back progressive ideals.

In 2022, roughly one quarter (23%) of 12th-grade boys self-identified as either conservative or very conservative, according to a Monitoring the Future annual survey, The Hill reported. Just 13% identified as liberal or very liberal.

Liberal young men have not outnumbered conservatives since 2009, when 21% said they were liberal compared to 20% who said they were conservative. Right-wingers, however, have consistently outnumbered their progressive counterparts in that demographic since then. 

Girls in 12th grade, however, are increasingly liberal, with 30% identifying as such in 2022, compared to 12% who said they were conservative. Among young women, however, liberals have outnumbered conservatives in the survey consistently since 1975, though the gap was far smaller in prior decades.

Former President Donald Trump's presidency saw many young women skew to the political left, driven in part by opposition to many of his public statements and alleged misconduct involving women, the outlet stated, while attributing some of the conservative leanings of men to the very Trump style with which some women seem to take issue.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.