Week 7

Kimi Villaroman
A01
Week 7

In Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt’s article “The Coddling of the American Mind”, issues of hypersensitivity, mental health, and limitations on critical thinking are brought forth. Haidt and Lukianoff believe that sheltering students from certain discussions and ideas presented in the curriculum is actually hurting their mental health; not helping them. In recent years, being politically correct has been of utmost importance in administration, even going so far as to call innocuous speech as hateful speech. This rise in being more aware of speech has risen due to our technological spike and the vindictive protectiveness that millennials face nowadays from rising crime since the 1980’s. This is something that I have personally seen in my own experiences; children nowadays don’t go out and play as much as our parents and grandparents have. This sheltered upbringing mixed in with the fact that technology makes it easier to rally against/for a certain cause/issue/idea has created an atmosphere that coddles the American mind, specifically college students.

In my own personal experience, prior to college, I was never exposed to what being politically correct meant. I was in for a real shock when people in my community would take offense at the word “guys” when others would say something like, “How are you doing, guys?” I had never thought of how gender binaries can be offensive, or that the word “guy” would be representative of the patriarchy. While there are MANY phrases and terms that I can see as definitely offensive, to me, this took it too far, too hypersensitive. In my opinion, the intent of the speech is more important than the words itself; so if the words were said in a way that was not supposed to be taken offensively, I don’t take offense to it.

In addition to that, I am a strong believer in allowing all types of discussion to be allowed on campus to promote critical thinking. Like Professor Valverde said, we are college students; old enough to know our moral values, so something blatantly against our own will not resonate with us or change our beliefs. If anything, it’s best to hear out the other side so that we may gain a better understanding of what we are arguing for.

Question: What are ways we can use and disseminate the applications of cognitive behavior therapy to the everyday college student?