By Scott Tibbs, March 6, 2015
Theoretically, college should be a time for learning new things, examine your ideas, and generally expanding your knowledge. Today, college is increasingly becoming a place where pathetic crybabies need to be "protected" from ideas, opinions and even academic coursework that might offend their delicate sensibilities. This does not bode well for the future of America and our ability to deal with adult problems in an adult manner.
The problem here is that modern colleges and universities have embraced Political Correctness for decades. As much as it gets mocked, PC has roots in a good idea - do not unnecessarily offend people. Don't use racial slurs, do not call people names, do not discriminate against people for their faith, sex, national origin, and so forth. But modern colleges have gone far beyond basic common courtesy into the realm of the absurd, to the point that students are being deprived of important educational information.
Many professors are pressured to put "trigger warnings" on the material presented to students in case someone might be "offended." Some law professors are even avoiding teaching about rape law, because some delicate sensibilities might be "offended" by the mere mention of the topic. So students are being deprived of basic instruction in an important area of criminal justice law because some students are crybabies and cannot handle even the discussion of the topic.
This is to say nothing of the absurd "need" for students to have a "safe place" when someone dares discuss a sensitive topic in a lecture or to present opposing views on a sensitive topic. Perhaps next, Take Back the Night rallies and marches should be banned from campus because the discussion of rape - even in the context of empowering and supporting victims of rape and domestic violence - might be too traumatic for some so-called "students."
This is ridiculous and it needs to stop. So-called "students" should be told if they cannot handle sensitive topics like adults without having an emotional breakdown, they are not ready for college and should drop out and grow up. Serious issues need to be handled by serious people, and the leaders of tomorrow will need to be prepared to take on difficult issues without the need to run to a "safe space." If these crybabies get elected to Congress, will they need a "safe space" if a committee hearing presents ideas or information they never learned to handle?
This starts at birth. Parents need to teach their children to be mature, and that they need to deal with ideas, information and opinions without becoming emotionally distraught - even when they disagree or are offended by what is presented to them. Part of being a functioning member of society is the ability to deal with things we find objectionable.
