Universities Should Provide Safe Spaces and Trigger Warnings for Students
For the Motion
Side Score: 3
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Against the Motion
Side Score: 9
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I'm saying that the universities already provide restrooms for people to have their safe space. I don't see what is wrong with classes being advertised as environments where controversial topics sometimes lead to heated discussions or annoying opinionated posts on social media. Side: For the Motion
It's gone a bit insane, but I agree with the basic concept. Bullying should not be put up with anywhere on a university campus. Students should have some place to retreat to for when things simply get too intense. Trigger warnings trigger me. I get that there are extreme cases - like girls that have been raped - where PTSD-like issues can be very real, and they do deserve special consideration - that safe space, for instance - but we all need thickness of skin to face the real world. A university is a place to get out of one's comfort zone, and embrace critical thinking - to hear out others with other ideas, and look at those ideas thoughtfully...to learn discernment. If you absolutely can't handle that, you don't need a university. Stick to community college. Side: For the Motion
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2
points
If you're so emotionally fragile that you can't handle someone saying something you don't like, then you probably shouldn't leave your house, and you definitely shouldn't be on the internet. You might as well live your life in a bubble. “To college students: You don’t need safe-zones to protect your fragile ego. You need big, new, scary ideas that challenge your beliefs and expand your thinking. You need ideas that will offend you, hurt your feelings, stomp on your toes, and make you mad. This is necessary for growth and learning. So stop being offended by everything. Stop being a victim. Grow up.” - Larry Winget Side: Against the Motion
I agree but would also argue in cases of bullying the schools need to act with more diligence than they have before. An example would be the college student who complained about her roommate and brought up that she was being harassed and discriminated against. She found that her roommate had intentionally rubbed used menstrual pads on her items and done just absolutely disgusting things that caused the girl to get sick. The school just tried to sweep it under the rug and if I remember correctly tried to have them sign non-disclosure agreements. The school officials were protecting themselves and the name of the school, more than the students. Side: For the Motion
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points
"I agree but would also argue in cases of bullying the schools need to act with more diligence than they have before." I agree. My statement was in reference to all the protests that have been taking place at universities lately by people who don't want to allow certain people to speak at universities because they don't agree with their views. Bulling is a whole other story, because it's a personal attack directed at an individual, unlike the protesters who can simply avoid going to see the speaker if they don't like what they have to say. Bulling is definitely something that should be dealt with. Side: For the Motion
@LittleMisfit. Interesting. To college students: You don’t need safe-zones to protect your fragile ego. You need big, new, scary ideas that challenge your beliefs and expand your thinking. You need ideas that will offend you, hurt your feelings, stomp on your toes, and make you mad. This is necessary for growth and learning. So stop being offended by everything. Stop being a victim. Grow up.” - Larry Winget I have entire agreement here when it comes to academic matters (i.e. Math, Science, Philosophy, History, ect.). What would your thoughts be toward Safe Spaces specifically designed for people facing similar forms of bullying/pain due to group "membership" (i.e. midget, wheel-chair bound, gay, child-abuse backgrounds, ect. ect.--mental or physical disability, mental health, ect)? Do you hold the same position as to the "general" population? That is, I am making a distinction between people who do not want their pre-conceived notions about the nature of reality challenged versus those with legitimate grievances and living in daily fear/pain due to whatever their particular circumstance is. Do you think this is a legitimate distinction? Side: For the Motion
2
points
While universities should not obstruct students from creating whatever spaces they like or using whatever language they see fit to use, we should be very hesitant to prescribe a duty to universities to proactively provide any space or language beyond the merely academic. When institutions are expected to produce safe space and use trigger warnings this is a presumption of the fragility of students, which is not only disrespectful of students but in fact fosters that fragility instead of teaching students to empower themselves through exposure to unpleasant experiences. Institutionalized political correctness of this kind also creates an environment of exceptionalism wherein "regular" spaces may be held to lower standards of decency and respect by virtue of not being positioned as (hyper) respectful spaces. Furthermore, both of these methods are flawed because they simply aren't possible to implement. It is impossible to anticipate all of the triggers which could exist for a student, which when paired with a student expectation that they will get trigger warnings can make triggering events even more difficult for students than they otherwise would be. The use of trigger warnings also results in the most marginalized persons, those whose issues aren't even on the radar, being further excluded in a systematic and institutionalized fashion. Safe space in general presumes an inhuman ability to anticipate all possible grounds for offense, with the result that it fails in its stated objective while creating an expectation that students can rely on it to succeed alongside an expectation that students shouldn't have to learn how to cope with difficult emotional situations. Side: Against the Motion
2
points
There are people who ACTUALLY get beat up and harassed every single day. The people supporting safe spaces and trigger warnings for university students just want safe spaces for when they "get offended" by a statement somebody says that they dislike or don't agree with. Deal with it, or get out of college. We need to teach people how to toughen up. STOP BABYING GROWN ADULTS!! If they have an actual SERIOUS problem where they're actually being attacked then you or somebody else can report it to the police. Side: Against the Motion
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point
The short answer is no. When is comes to shielding yourself from scary new ideas that you don't like you shouldn't be able to have a safe space, arguing these ideas out in the open creates interacting debate and helps with critical thinking since you're having to refute these ideas with evidence and knowledge. Also it keeps what people would consider "bad ideas" from festering and growing or gaining legitimacy in their own circles. We may even be able to understand where these people who hold "bad ideas" are coming from and be able to understand there view point (keep in mind this does not mean that we necessarily agree with them). Also on the subject of people who are the victims of bullying safe spaces, I still disagree with this. You're teaching young adults that hiding away and forgetting your problems in safe spaces will make the problems go away. This I believe is quite damaging we should be teaching kids that confronting the bullies is the way to solve the problem. (As a person who has experienced bullying before I found that confronting them solved the problem a lot better then me hiding away at home because I was too scared to go to school.) Side: Against the Motion
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