Rhetorical Analysis

After my first semester in college, I was left with a new and exciting learning experience. I engaged in discussions on controversial topics and was exposed to various reading and media material which opened me up to new perspectives. In classrooms, questions about politics, abuse, drugs, death, relationships, religion, and ethics were discussed without restrictions. I enjoyed this learning experience on the most part due to the professors announcing the topics to be discussed the first day of classes. Being fresh out of high school, such a practice relieved the transition into a new academic environment. However, I cannot solely rely on my personal experience when deciding on where to stand regarding the controversy that has students, parents, educators, and administrators in disagreement. In my research I plan to explore the controversy over the use of trigger warnings and safe spaces by analyzing both sides of the debate. My goal is to come to a conclusion concerning the proper use of trigger warnings and safe spaces; specifically, when should trigger warnings be given, where is the use of trigger warnings and safe spaces appropriate, and most importantly, what subjects should students be warned or protected from. I

An increasing trend among college campuses is the use of “safe spaces” and “trigger warnings.” The term safe space refers to an area where discriminatory and offensive notions are barred and a person can feel secure. A trigger warning is a forewarning of content that could

People have to think twice before saying anything for fear that they are faced with charges of aggression or insensitivity. While the press looks at this as a rebirth of political correctness which sought to restrict hate speech amongst the marginalized groups to encourage inclusivity, others argue it’s more concerned with emotional well-being of the students and that it seeks to protect students from mental harm that can be caused by offensive words, ideas or actions. All in the purpose of making campuses a safe place for students.

“The Coddling of the American Mind” by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt is a short work written to inform people on an epidemic that is affecting colleges and universities around America. The article talks about certain “words, ideas, and subjects that might cause discomfort or give offense” (Lukianoff) and how students are asking for them to not be said. Much is covered on the topic including specific examples of how people were persecuted for saying such things and various opinions on if this trend is for better or worse. I believe the article highlights a problem in the educational system and in order for improvement these topics need to be taught and discussed.

With the generations changing, people are becoming more cautious about what they do or say or even let their children go out and do sensitivity is a growing at an alarming rate with the demand for “safe spaces” at college campuses across the United States, with a high rise of students demanding certain subjects from schools to be removed from institutes. Students are trying to get rid of words, ideas, and subjects that might cause them to feel uncomfortable and offended. Students are attempting to get rid of words, ideas, and subjects that might cause them to feel uncomfortable and offended.

Many students have embarked on a movement to cleanse campuses of words, ideas, or subjects that might make other students uncomfortable. In retrospect, I can see how the idea of nobody being offended could greatly benefit the world, making it easier to focus on tasks at hand

There is a difference between being insensitive and being childish with trigger warnings and enforcing safe spaces for the wrong reasons. It is not the main purpose of colleges and universities to mute themselves on how they educate for your comfort. You’re at that college or universities to learn and further your major, not to be a brat and tell them what you don’t want to learn or be exposed too. As Jonathan Rauch, author of ‘Kindly Inquisitors: The New Attacks on Free Thought’ put it when discussing with The Daily News “[I]f students feel the modern university’s job is to create a “place of comfort” rather than an “intellectual space,” that is hardly all their fault. Many parents of my generation make it their business to spare their children any exposure to upset and risk. Then kids and

On college campuses, a common discussion is whether or not professors should talk about a certain subject without “repressing unpopular views” or putting anyone down with “micro aggression”. Trigger warnings, which tend to prevent people with “weak minds” to become offended easily and overreact, are not helpful or academically supportive as means to develop a students ability to learn and develop intellectually and academically, yet it is these controversial issues that allow in-depth academic discussion and learning to take place.

According to NPR author Anya Kamenetz, 51% out of 841 professors reported that they've used a trigger warning in advance of introducing potentially difficult material (Kamenetz). University faculty and staff have increasingly used trigger warnings to alert students to the possibility that they might be affected or even harmed by potentially traumatic material. In colleges like Oberlin and UCSB, trigger warnings are given in assumption that universities have a responsibility to protect students from controversial or potentially sensitive material. Joanna Williams, director of the Centre for the Study of Higher Education at the University of Kent, points out that “the entire canon of English literature could contain warnings as to the emotional nature of the content and the issues covered” (Williams 17). This has already begun to happen as some students have called for warnings for classic works like Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart due its description of racial violence, so that those students who have been previously victimized by racism or domestic violence can choose to avoid these works, due to the possibility of a ‘trigger.’ Williams also mentions that “lecturers driven by the pursuit of student satisfaction may well choose to self-censor and leave controversial topics out of the curriculum altogether to prevent potential upset” (Williams 187). One professor, in a Vox op-ed called I'm a liberal professor, and my liberal students terrify me, validates this idea by writing that he was afraid of his undergraduate students after a complaint and edited his subject material to avoid upsetting them. He further acknowledges that his colleagues have done the same for fear of being let go (Schlosser). The claims for a right to not be offended has essentially created a challenge for universities and their professors to teach students to be comfortable with challenging

Trigger warnings are not a form of censorship, but an expression of care for those of whom require them. Trigger warnings are important for those with chronic anxiety, debilitating fears (or phobias), post traumatic stress disorder, and more. Being triggered by a topic is not at all comparable to disagreeing with it. College should be a safe environment for students, yes. Students should also be free to disagree with classmates and professors alike, as it is also an environment intended to harbor learning. However, a “disagreement” should never result in panic attacks, but a psychological trigger very well might.

The article addresses the immense problem associated with the current process of studying enabled in colleges and universities. With an accent on emotional welfare, students arise and demand to clean the campuses of ideas, words and actions that may in any way give an offence or cause discomfort to some individuals. In such manner, such classical pieces of literature as The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald or Metamorphoses by Ovid are now must possess a so-called “warning labels”, as, by the opinion of this student’s movement, they depict a physical abuse and depravity. What is more, the teaching staff is not safe either, since if the lecture contains some words that may offend some nationalities or beliefs they must be disposed as well. More importantly, universities have initiated issuing “trigger warnings” and “microaggressions”, and have made “safe spaces” where no one allowed possessing a personal view, all the more to voice it (Lukianoff & Haidt, 2015). With the, so to say, thriving democracy and an unlimited freedom of speech, which are, step by step, become more elusive, the world head towards the world described in Orwell’s 1984: a terrifying place, where

In class we have been reading an article from “The Atlantic” about the coddling of the american mind and how teachers are having to censor all the learning material because some of the students get offended. The problem has mostly been in colleges where students are asking their teachers to skip some topics because it brings up bad memories or makes them feel uncomfortable and to give them “trigger warnings” a warning so people know that there is going to be some inappropriate material. When students asks for a trigger warning or asks their teacher to skip over some information they are missing very important material that could later help them in their future profession. If you are scared or have issues with what you are learning then you

Yale, a prestigious learning institution, has been plagued by political correctness on its campus. A lecturer, Erika Christakis, suggested a thought of possibly wearing offensive Halloween costumes and stated this "American universities were once a safe space not only for maturation but also for a certain regressive, or even transgressive, experience; increasingly, it seems, they have become places of censure and prohibition" ("I Hope this Offends You."). Students at Yale responded to this statement by trying to get her fired because they thought it was such an atrocity that somebody could support peoples first amendment and let people wear whatever costumes they want even if it offends people. This is a common trend at colleges all across the nation by letting them criticise instructors for offending them or causing them some emotional stress by statements. Occidental College, the education institution behind of our president has been plagued by the “PC Police” according to an article published by the New York Post, “Occidental kids are demanding a “microaggression” monitoring system that would empower them to report faculty members who’ve offended them” (Post Editorial Board). These students are putting the educators who are supposed to be teaching the topics in a true and unbiased manner in a hot seat and

At college and universities across America, students are being constrained to an increased sense of political correctness. This is because students are demanding protection from microaggressions. Microaggressions are words and ideas that seem to have no malicious intent from the outside, but are viewed as a kind of violence nonetheless. Furthermore, professors now need to be concerned about trigger warnings and avoid course content if they believe it may cause a strong emotional response. For instance, some professors avoid teaching about rape law because the subject may cause students distress. However, as demonstrated by an article published by The Atlantic, this new level censorship is bad. This essay will explore how Greg Lukianoff and

Free speech has become a topic of large debate across the United States. Due to opposing views between people, the idea of censorship and political correctness has circulated and gained support. In fact, 40% of Millennials believe the government should censor offensive comments, remarks, speeches, etc. Prevalent on college campuses, “safe space” zones have erected for those such students who feel targeted or offended by remarks. Over the last few months, riots have erupted at the University of California at Berkeley campus regarding the scheduling of a conservative speaker, Milo Yiannopoulos, over the issue of his Republican agenda offending the liberal students on campus, a major theme erupting across America right now. Regarding censorship, Saturday Night Live actor Tracy Morgan stated, “We have freedom of speech, but you gotta watch what you say.” I believe America needs radical censorship in order to protect the feelings of the offended Millennials, including censorship in school systems and media, such as the news.