The restriction of freedom of speech in colleges

[it means no worries]

Many colleges across the USA and UK are now experiencing restrictions on free speech in the forms of things such as trigger warnings, safe spaces, banning speakers who disagree with the uni, and in some extreme cases compulsory ideological re-education classes. (That last one is real, I kid you not.)

Safe spaces
These are spaces in some universities where offended or triggered students go to calm down. No offensive language or material is allowed here. In my opinion, having these spaces does far more harm than good as it encourages students to simply ignore opposing theories or arguments rather than debate them. Debate is crucial for new ideas and the improvement of old ones.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/22/opini ... .html?_r=1


Trigger warnings
In many universities texts and essays have "trigger warnings" to warn people that potentially offensive or distressing language or imagery could be in said text. In many extreme cases there have even been a total ban on many words or concepts in students' essays for fear that they may cause other students distress. In my opinion, tip toeing around concepts you dont like is certainly not a good preparation for going out into the real world. And if it brings back a memory of something like abuse or rape-constantly censoring its every mention is not gonna help.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/un ... ideas.html


Banning speakers
A few universities have even been pressured to ban speakers from giving lectures if they do not agree with a certain set of ideas.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/n ... ities-risk

http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/c ... r-10136555


Ideological re-education classes
The university of Delaware had introduces ideological re-education classes" which were mandatory for all students. In these classes the students were basically spoon fed whatever political and cultural opinions that the university had.

https://www.thefire.org/university-of-d ... education/




I believe that all of this does more harm than good because it encourages students to believe that everything must conform to their wishes and that nothing is allowed to oppose their views. This is bad because they wont know how to deal with any sort of opposing argument or view at all when they don't have the safety of a university campus.

So what is your view on the current restrictions being enforced on many campuses?

[KopsTheTerminator]

...this is an actual thing and not an exaggeration?

In all honesty these sound like typical sheltered SJW college students who'll grow out of it once they realise that the real world doesn't cater to their every need and they're the ones who need to adapt to the world. I can understand safe spaces/trigger warnings for VERY serious things like rape and suicide as they could legitimately be traumatic to some students but for everything else? Not really. Big difference between fighting against discrimination and catering to special snowflakes. But then again I have no idea how all this works exactly as I've never witnessed this phenomenon IRL, only on some Tumblr blogs, so I'm not sure how valid my opinion here is.

[it means no worries]

Ah yes. I realize this may look exaggerated. I'll get some sources now to back this stuff up.

[KopsTheTerminator]

It's not that I don't believe you, I'm just so surprised colleges are now catering to the SJW crowds. Why?

[Rollo]

The only thing that makes any amount of sense here are the trigger warnings. No matter how much nonsense people spew about it, those are genuinely useful. You wouldn't force an abuse victim into reading something that heavily details abuse cases. It's just inhumane. But you probably already know that.

I think that the bear bones of what makes an SJW are not all that bad. Equality for all, giving everyone a fair chance, and consideration for the people around us so that living on this planet is a bit more bearable. One of the many reasons a SJW became a bad thing is because of a small minority of delusional people who set out to make villains out of innocent people making mistakes. Half of the people who are opposed to many social justice issues today are more often than not the victims of a SJW who decided to humiliate them by presenting them with them a perspective they might not have understood yet. Instead of calmly presenting them with their case, they call them names and treat them poorly for not knowing any better. Then that causes the person to NOT want to learn. I know I was pretty much yelled at by a friend when I was still coming to terms with feminism a few years ago. If I hadn't had the sense to actually do my research and conduct my own opinion, I may still be bitter about that one incident and decide that feminism is a stupid thing. I may also have the wrong perception of what it is. The same applies to so many other issues, but that's just my own personal example.

Anyway, off-topic, kinda. The idea of 'safe spaces' is debatable to me. If it's for something genuine, like rape or abuse, then yeah, that should be allowed for those who need it. If it's for something totally ridiculous, like some made-up issue you would find on certain corners of Tumblr, then you can only hope that these people will eventually grow out of it. It's hard deciding if you should be the one to push them out of their delusion by not allowing them these comforts, because then you could be blamed for, I dunno, bullying. And that makes you the villain then.

I do think a minority of people are uber-sensitive these days, and you do find them on Tumblr, sure, but I also think there's a majority of people who are refusing to realise that times have moved on and these issues that were previously swept under the carpet are now on full-show. These issues that you may find stupid could make life a whole lot easier for somebody else if they got some attention. You just have to deal with it.

Can't say much for the other issues personally since I'm not in college or university right now, but it does seem absolutely absurd. You know we're screwed when we're not allowed to form our own opinion on something. Then again, who ALLOWS themselves to be brainwashed? Show up for the re-education class if you have to, that isn't your fault. But if you actually believe it without seeing the facts then I think the blame lies on you.

[S1mb4 D4 L10n]

Problems like these are demonstrative of the regressive left. I find that most people I talk to, in fact literally everyone except a troll or two, believe in social and legal equality for many demographics. But these people, to me, are not SJWs. SJWs tend advocate for programs or ideas that may appear to be progressive but ultimately illiberal in its nature. "Safe spaces" may appear to be a nice way for victims of some form of abuse to be able to congregate without fear, but when in practice, these safe spaces become intellectual hugboxes. Where everyone must meet the same consensus on a certain topic or else they might trigger another person.

Considering that this way of thinking is more popular among today's youth, it is not surprising that we're seeing speakers being banned from prestigious institutions for nothing other than having different political views. Even comedians like Chris Rock, Bill Maher, and Jerry Seinfeld, all say that they are refusing to perform at colleges anymore. Why? Because they protest over jokes of all things.

Chris Rock even said himself: "college audiences are getting way too conservative. Not like they're voting Republican, but in their social views and their willingness not to offend anybody."

Which ties back to my original point. This regressive culture that IMNW is describing is the antithesis of liberalism. After centuries of fighting and protest to maintain the right to freedom of speech, more and more younger people are looking to limit it. I think it's absolutely silly.

[Carl]

I hadn't heard of this. Maybe that's a reason to actually be glad I live in the south. I'm by no means conservative, but holy hell, my university would probably have found the very idea of such measures laughable. People are told at the start of the semester what the class will cover. If they have a legitimate issue with something, they can talk to the professor and skip class that day or something.

I honestly didn't know that extreme stuff had escaped from tumblr.

[Rollo]

^ To be honest, I don't think any university around here would ever dare to toy with people's minds like that. It's like something out of a dystopian novel. Is this really a common thing among colleges/universities around the world, or is it simply a select few?

[it means no worries]

It is a lot in the USA and it's spreading to Europe albeit slowly.

[Tora]

This topic though. Like it literally is happening all over the place. Here is a clip of some of the messed up stuff going on at The University of Michigan. I can't believe the way that colleges are getting.