Few college students consider the conflict in the Middle East as one of the top three most important issues to them, in a recent survey released on Tuesday.
The Generation Lab survey, which took place from May 3-6, asked college students to choose up to three issues that are most important to them, from a list of nine.
The conflict in the Middle East came in last place, with only 13 percent of college students ranking it in their top three. Two other issues had little support among college students as well: national security/terrorism at 15 percent and immigration policies at 21 percent.
The remaining six issues were each chosen in the top three by over 30 percent of the students surveyed: health-care reform at 40 percent, education funding and access at 38 percent, economic fairness and opportunity at 37 percent, racial justice and civil rights at 36 percent, climate change at 35 percent, and gun control/safety at 32 percent.
The survey, initially released by Axios, comes as campus protests of the war in Gaza have been the focus of public attention in recent weeks, causing some Democrats to worry about the potential impact on Biden’s youth vote before the November election. However, this survey raises doubts about whether the conflict will be significant enough to young voters to change their behavior on election day. reported The survey also indicates that only 8 percent of respondents have participated in protests, including 7 percent against Israeli action in Gaza and 1 percent in support of Israel.
Among the 93 percent who have not taken part in protests, 34 percent said they support the protests against Israeli action in Gaza, 9 percent said they support the pro-Israel protests, and 50 percent chose “none of the above.”
A large majority of students (81 percent) said they back accountability for the protesters, including 45 percent who “definitely” and 36 percent who “probably” support the idea that students who “damaged property, vandalized or illegally occupied buildings should be held accountable by their university.”
Fourteen percent said “probably not,” and five percent said “definitely not,” when asked the same question.
Only 33 percent of respondents said they believed occupying campus buildings was “acceptable for students to do as part of their protest.”
Ten percent said the same about preventing students who support Israel from entering certain areas on campus, and 42 percent believed refusing a university order to disperse a tent encampment or protest was acceptable. Forty-four percent saw none of the three options as acceptable.
The survey involved a representative sample of 1,250 students from 2-year and 4-year schools. The margin of error is +/- 2.7 percentage points.
Few college students consider the conflict in the Middle East as one of the top three most important issues to them, in a recent survey released on Tuesday. The Generation Lab survey, which took place from May 3-6, asked college students to choose up to three issues that are most important to them, from a list of nine.…
