There is a new trend sweeping across America's college campuses. It isn't an app or clothing, it is a call for "safe spaces." Safe spaces are, in theory, a place where people can feel comfortable to share their ideas and speak their minds without the fear of discrimination or judgement. Sure, that sounds great, but it also sounds like the desperate pleas of a first grade teacher trying to control an unruly class. I agree that someone shouldn't be discriminated against for things outside of their control, such as the color of ones skin. And yes, I agree that people should feel comfortable sharing their opinions without being socially abused. The idea of a safe space originally was a good idea, back when the LGBT (sorry if I missed a letter, I can't keep up) community had a network of bars, clubs, and other establishments that were considered safe for them to congregate without the fear of the state arresting them for sodomy charges or being beaten. Now, people don't want to be protected from physical abuse due to sexual orientation, they want to be protected from ideas that aren't in line with their own, or that might actually challenge their beliefs.
You're not a victim if someone disagrees with you. You don't have a right to be protected from ideas. Safe spaces remind me of the dystopian society depicted in the novel Fahrenheit 451 in which books were burned because they contained ideas that were contrary to the message of the oppressive state. The single greatest benefit that I have had while attending college is hearing a plethora of ideas and opinions that i had never been exposed to before. That's diversity. It isn't the color of someone's skin or the nationality of someone's ancestors. It is the culmination of different ideas, opinions, and experiences that challenge you to examine your own. The most boring and unproductive conversations are the ones I have with people who agree with me. You need to hear things that offend you, not be protected from them. You don't need to be protected, you need to be torn down, intellectually humiliated, challenged, and mentally distraught by ideas and opinions of others. From that comes personal and intellectual growth.
Fifty years ago, students were protesting for free and uncensored speech, pushed agendas that challenged the status quo, and fostered diversity of ideas. Now they are protesting for safe spaces to protect themselves from free speech and scary ideas. We have regressed as a society. My generation claims to be the most progressive this world has ever seen, while simultaneously begging to be spared from dynamic ideas that may differ from their own. My generation needs to take a good, long look at ourselves and think about our place in history. How do we want to be remembered? There was a generation that seventy years ago dropped everything and fought for the protection of ideals that we now want to be protected from. It's time we grow up. Let's replace the petulance with persistence and be a force of positive growth, rather than stagnant coddling. Rant over.
If you're offended, get over it.
