Safe Spaces In College

The purpose of my research is to explore and offer analysis of the controversy over the use of trigger warnings and safe spaces on college campuses, in order to understand when, where, and most importantly, regarding what subjects their use is appropriate.

Bullying is very bad and because of this about 160,000 of 13,000,000 kids stay home so they don’t get bullied by anyone. Also out of that 13 million 2,000 commit suicide because of the harsh bullying. Since many kids around the world are being bullied schools have been starting an anti-bullying system which brings bullies down by 15%. When kids reported bullying 80% of it is name calling, 39% is hitting or shoving, 38% is threats, 29% is rumor spreading, etc. Everyone should always remember one rule and that is the golden rule, the golden rule is to treat others how they want to be treated, but some bullies just don’t understand so they make everyone feel bad about themselves.

I believe schools should be free of bullying because it is a place where we need to study and build fundamentals for our future. Bullying damages the bullied individuals emotionally, academically, and intellectually. I know this from a personal experience, I suffered from bullying for about three years in high school, and I know how it feels to be bullied and to be afraid to assert myself. The bullies used to bully me by calling me “ugly” and “stupid” and many other phrases…I used to hear these negative words and phrases daily. It even affected my academic performance, and I used to tell myself that it is okay, I am not the only one who has been through this and not survived. Plus, I was scared if I faced them and tried to defend myself, it will be worse, so I used to deal with it by silence. It stopped when I decided to speak up about it to my teacher. After talking to my teacher, who took care of the problem, nobody bothered me after that day. If I had not spoken up and stood up for myself that issue would have never been solved. This example shows the significance for students to speak up for themselves to solve their own problems. Consequently, we should never hesitate to assert ourselves and ask for help if we have an

Altogether bullying is not nice and shouldn't happen in any schools, and we must put a stop to it.

Sally attended Joliet Junior College and took a general psychology class. One day when she attended her psychology class, her professor warned students of a topic that there were going to talk about in class which was how abuse can damage an individual’s mental state. Sally has been through abuse in her past and is uncomfortable with that certain topic, so she left class because she was alerted to the topic. Ultimately, she didn’t want to revisit her past of abuse. This is considered a trigger warning, in which professors give a warning about topics that they will discuss that can lead to some sort of discomfort for students. Trigger warnings are used on campuses that are considered a safe space. The term safe space is defined as an environment where students can feel like themselves and are not exposed to any harm physically or mentally (Google). Various of colleges/universities have safe spaces so that their students don’t have to go through discrimination of sorts or any harm. Safe spaces are good for students, but there are negative outcomes from it, such as it doesn’t let individuals who suffer and have trauma cope with what happened to them. Even though are negative outcomes from safe spaces, there are positive results that impact Millennials such as a decrease in anxiety and prevention of hate speech.

Online Bullying or even face to face bullying has been around for a long time. No matter what people try to do it won’t just away, this why i think that schools shouldn’t limit students online speech.The First Amendment states that we have the “freedom of speech” and schools need to respect and protect that right. Also, why should it matter what people say online or face to face? If it's not during school hours it’s not their concern.

According to Patricia Hill Collins in “The Power of Self-Definition,” creating a safe space is important part of empowerment because:

Does safe spaces at universities make for a better experience for minorities like blacks, LGBTQ, or anyone that’s not heterosexual white males. Safe spaces are places where anyone can relax and freely express themselves without fear of being made to feel uncomfortable, unwelcome, or unsafe. University of Chicago in the class 2020 received a letter explicitly stating that they support academic freedom which in terms that they do not support “trigger warnings,” and even went as far to say that they don't condone the creation of “intellectual safe spaces.” In response to this letter sent out to the class of 2020 regarding safe spaces Cameron Okeke wrote the article “I’m a black UChicago graduate. Safe spaces got me through college,” arguing that

Bullying: something everyone can relate to in some way. You could be the one being bullied, or the one to do the bullying. No one can put a complete end to bullying simply because people are going to be people. They will always try to harm others for various reasons. Therefore schools should not limit students’ online speech. The reasons include, but are not limited to, schools should not get involved with outside happenings; limiting speech will not stop bullying; and the majority of people are not affected.

The Ministry of Education in Ontario recognizes and encourages diversity of schools in the province through Ontario’s Equity and Inclusive Education Strategy. School boards across the province have been enforcing equity related policies to “establish conditions that promote inclusive education and support equity” (Ministry of Education 2009). This strategy calls for all school boards to “develop and implement equity and inclusive education policy and guidelines for the board and its schools” (Ministry of Education 2009). The Toronto District School Board, in particular, has developed a positive space initiative that is part of Ontario’s

Students everywhere are becoming more sensitive towards ideas that might hurt their feelings. This article really focuses on microaggressions and how these words or phrases have no malicious intent, but are still looked at by some students as offensive. It also looks at how students have a right to not be offended, and how this is having a negative outcome. When colleges try to adjust and make everyone happy so that no students get offended, they run into many problems like students being unable to have genuine discussions. There is also a negative outcome for students as well. Students who are protected will not be ready for the real world. The article also discusses trigger warnings and how they can become damaging to the brain, and are psychologically negative in the way students are using or avoiding them. “The Coddling of the American Mind”, shows how and why coddling college students has a negative impact on their education and mental

Bullying can be describes as an aggressive behavior from an individual that feels the need to overpower, and control others, whether physically or mentally. The term “bullying” is thrown around a bit excessively these days that we go to extremes when we hear the word, we either ignore it completely or we go off the handle and want to stamp everyone as a bully. As a society we have become desensitized to term while at the same time trying to stay politically correct, in other words we tend to look the other way, but when approached by others about it we try to save face. At times we even try to avoid explaining Darwins Theory of Evolution or in other words “natural selection” and label it as bullying. At the end of the day we need to address

School should be a community that is warm, respectful, and open. Students spend approximately 30 hours a week in the classroom and it is imperative they are able to

Unsafe learning environments create a climate of fear and insecurity and a perception and this reduces the quality of education for all students.

One of the most captivating reasons students believe in safe spaces is because they allow an outlet for many who may have had traumas in their life. Many find it appealing that they have a