Katrina Asuncion Week 7 Section A01

Katrina Asuncion
Week 7
Section A01

In "The Coddling of the American Mind," Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt warn that the current climate on college campuses that promote "safe spaces" and outlaw "trigger words" actually harms college students by furthering "vindictive protectiveness." College students have begun to restrain free speech with these mechanisms in order to protect mental wellbeing. Lukianoff and Haidt argue that these students possess an "unbeatable trump card" whenever they claim that something offends them, due to the outrage over victim blaming, thus creating an environment of institutionalized policing of language.

The ideals of these millennial college students greatly contrast students during the Civil Rights Movements, as evinced by Robby Cohen's article "Berkeley Free Speech Movement: Paving the Way for Campus Activism."In 1964, UC Berkeley students protested against the university and fought for their right to free speech and political activism. While millennial students shy away from free speech due to its "triggering" qualities, these students during the 1960s strived to possess the right to say what they felt, devoid of institutionalized restraints placed by the university. 

Personally, I believe that the emphasis on "safe spaces" and "trigger warnings" have begun to diminish on our campus, as many students realized that both terms held little actual meaning. Nearly every space or gathering was referred to as a "safe space," detracting from its meaning. Although I understand the purpose of trigger warnings, I do not think that we can merely shield ourselves from subjects that make us uncomfortable, as long as they are not perpetuating hate speech or actual harmful ideas. 

Question: Is the ideal of creating a university that serves as a "safe space" harmful to students? Should the university be a haven devoid from the realities of the real world?

Works Cited

1.Better Watch What You Say [Photograph]. (n.d.).

2. Cohen, R. (1985). Berkeley Free Speech Movement: Paving the way for campus activism. OAH Magazine of History, 1(1), 16-18. doi:10.1093/maghis/1.1.16

3. Lukianoff, G. & Haidt, J. (2015). “The Coddling of the American Mind.” The Atlantic.

Singal, J. (2015). Is There Any Evidence Trigger Warnings Are Actually a Big Deal? Retrieved from http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2015/12/are-trigger-warnings-actually-widespread-at-all.html