For decades, the American system of higher education has been prided on the free flow of information – producing generations of strong, united, critical thinkers that would go on to serve the country as its political, military and civil leaders. Dependent on debate and productive conversation, the pre-professional world of academia cannot hope to prosper in its duty of educating an empowered, thoughtful American youth if the system continues to allow students an escape from political discussion and from the free exchange of opinions and concerns, especially during this time of ever-ripening dissent, dispute and discontent.
Is this a message, then, devoid of any empathy? Is it devoid of any compassion? Absolutely not! The importance of a thorough and complete understanding of the vulnerability of college-aged students to the detrimental effects of emotional instability and mental illness goes without saying.
At the same time, however, we’re living as history is being made. To ignore the decisions and events that will be brought about by the Trump administration over the course of the next four (or dare we say eight) years and the controversies that will no doubt stem from those choices would be a disservice to our youth as well as the future of our nation. We cannot allow the implementation of political trigger warnings into our post-secondary institutions, as they further weaken an already struggling demographic.
The issue of political trigger warnings goes much further than the perceived desire of the right-wing to produce a generation of hardened, unfeeling young people indifferent to the battle for political correctness and minority empathy. We’ve moved into a time where, for better or worse, political correctness has engrained itself within the inner workings of the very democracy our nation thrives on. It would be futile to think otherwise.
This country, then, must take into account the notion that a trigger warning for a class session centered around Trump’s presidency (whether it’s regarding his executive order to enforce a travel ban, or the infamous volatile rhetoric of border wall supporters) will hinder our ability to destroy such governmental intrusions on an American life of liberty that encompasses all colors, religions and orientations.
By attempting to perfect a flawed system, we are compromising the integrity of the very values we’ve instilled within the core of education itself. Let us nurture our students in an unrestricted environment of equality, compassion and most importantly, intellect.
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