"CENSORSHIP is bad in any shape or form. "
Tell that to the group that prevented the Vagina Monologues from being performed at Mount Holyoke:
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/01/21/womens-college-cancels-play-saying-it-excludes-transgender-experiences
^^^
They seem to be following the logic that any action that could potentially offend someone, however remote the chance, must be stopped at all costs. This is the logical conclusion of the mindset that began with speakers being dis-invited because they held opinions that students disagreed with. Wise university administrators should have stopped that right away.
The funniest part is that most of these students consider themselves to be “liberals”.
These students are open minded, as long as u believe what they believe.
“Should students be sheltered from potentially harmful words or ideas?”
No. Move to ‘1984’ or ‘Brave New World’ if you want to be sheltered from “potentially harmful words or ideas.”
Sometimes I think “liberals” these days are just snowflakes of glass hearts/
I think it’s healthy for students (and others) to discuss what kind of words and expressions are offensive to others, and why. Somebody will always take it too far. At Yale, each of the 12 residential colleges has a “Dean” and a “Master.” one of the Masters has just announced that he doesn’t want to be called “Master” because of racist and sexist connotations of the term. I think it’s pretty silly, but he’s not forcing the college to change anything–just expressing his preference. It can be discussed by sensible people–but of course, it will also be discussed by people who aren’t sensible.
And who determines what ideas are “potentially harmful”? My college had a history course called “Stalinism”…
I’m against censoring ideas and words just because they might potentially hurt certain people’s precious feelings. People’s freedom of speech and expression do not end where your feelings begin. They can say and express whatever ideas they want, and if you don’t like it, you have the right not to listen and walk away. Nobody’s forcing anyone to listen to anything.
It’s important to distinguish between government and private “censorship.”
How many of you who oppose censorship allowed your kids to say anything they wanted at any time when they were small? I’m a big free speech advocate, but I certainly censored my kids’ speech, as well as what they were allowed to read or view, at least while they were children.
That being said, I think a college, including a private one, should always err on the side of more, rather than less, speech.
Ideas are like guns. They don’t hurt anyone unless they are handled by the wrong person.
@Hunt But censoring kids and censoring college students aren’t the same.
@JustOneDad I’ll be the judge of what ideas are harmful to me and what ideas aren’t. Don’t need anybody who thinks he knows what’s best for everyone making decisions on what ideas I can and can’t explore or express.
“Sheltering” people from potentially harmful ideas is too susceptible to abuse, in my opinion–how many will use it to push their political agendas or use it to further their ideology (radical feminism comes to mind)?
Warning: the following statement is the sole opinion of Goat Girl and is not meant to be a personal affront to any individual. (That was a trigger warning)
This thread seems to be talking about two disparate points: (1) trigger warnings and their ramifications, and (2) whether there should be censorship.
From what I understand a trigger warning tells you there might be something in a text that might be offensive, controversial, or frightening to some individuals. How is this any different from showing a movie rating before the movie? It’s not censorship. It’s not as if professors have to black out sections of text (yet). I haven’t seen any recent news about book banning in the U.S.
I am totally against censorship of texts because they are controversial or possibly offensive. Isn’t that what college is for: to learn both sides of the story and form one’s own opinion? But I want fair warning if something in a text might involve sex or violence or racism, just like I’d want to know if the movie I am going to is R rated.
I mean this is sort of tricky but it really is not so tricky at the same time. Ideas or words that are deemed bad by one group could be dememd as good or innovative by another; so it’s really all subjective.
I think you cannot forget that there are certain words with meanings; they exist. You cannot just obliterate them. That would be limiting knowledge in order to keep one group of people happy(that’s the entire subjective thing coming into play again).
Most importantly how is anybody supposed to change the world for the better without being exposed to the bad ideas of the world? This desire, as expressed by OP’s article, was born out of an exposure to these bad ideas. You must have knowledge to thrive. It’s as simple as that.
I think we are talking about a small minority of the population who truly has PTSD (and possibly does not want to admit it) and would have a flashback or psychiatric episode just from hearing the word “rape” (for example) or discussing a rape case.
http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/trouble-teaching-rape-law
The author herself of that opinion piece says “second rape” - noting that someone has untreated (undertreated?) PTSD in that the person is being put back in the “battle” situation. And to me, although I am very much for the rights of the disabled including mentally ill people, that means that the person just may not be the right one to represent others in a court of law.
At some point, every person with a disability can’t do every job no matter what.
My friend had a missing arm, and plays soccer. She cannot do a legal throw-in. That’s it. No accommodation for her, it would violate the rules of the game. And I see this “potentially harmful words or ideas” debate similar. If there is a clear delineation, then that is that. The person who has the disability has to understand that the world cannot stop for them and the inherent rules cannot change for them.
(the thing that upsets me most about the New Yorker article is that rape law was not even taught in law schools until “recently”? Wow.)
Thanks for bringing that up!
I find that term “trigger warning” to be really offensive and it gives me a lot of anxiety. Am I being warned before some one pulls a trigger? What the heck is that about? Yet another glorification of guns and violence.
I would hope that that College Confidential would take the lead and BAN this term on this site, like they did by getting rid of the term t-r-o-l l
Oh no! This ugly term is getting more popular.
As someone scared that one day someone I know may be a victim of gun violence, I wish that people would STOP using the term “trigger warning”.
A “trigger warning” can also mean that you saw someone put their finger on the trigger as a warning for you to hand over your car keys or to give them the Chipotle take out that you just ordered (as happened recently in the news).
Interesting analogy, or like how is it different from someone shooting up a movie theater by pulling the trigger many times…without giving a warning?
College Confidential, as a private forum, enforces certain rules of civil discourse. Nobody has to agree with them, and nobody has to post here. As I noted above, I also enforced certain rules of civil discourse in my home. Private colleges also have the right to set such rules–but, in my opinion, a college in particular should be particularly hesitant to set speech rules, because free discourse is one of the essential purposes of (most) private colleges.
When it’s a public entity we’re talking about it, the ability to censor speech is much more limited.
Having read the article, “Duke freshmen” implies something different from the reality, which is “a handful of Duke freshmen”. Also, it’s an optional assignment—these may be high-achieving kids and all, but really, how many of them would have read it anyway?
I think trigger warnings, etc. are a horrible idea. College is supposed to prepare students for adulthood, and the adult world doesn’t come with trigger warnings. The real world is not a safe space. Students need to learn to deal with uncomfortable words and ideas. Pampering them in college doesn’t do them any favors.