Dear college students: There are no #safespaces

There are no “safe spaces.” They don’t exist.

I know some of you don’t need to hear that. Actually, I hope that far more of you than I realize don’t need to hear that. If that’s you, then I’m not talking to you.

But if you think a “safe space” free of “offensive” or “hurtful” speech on a college campus is a legitimate construct, then read on.

You have no right to never be offended. More importantly, a college or university should be one of the least “safe” places anywhere, ideologically speaking. Everything you know, or think you know, ought to be subjected to close scrutiny and inquiry. Now perhaps you’re going to college to learn things that will help you get a better job. That’s important.

But college also should teach you to think. And you’ll quickly learn, if you truly open your mind, that reasonable and intelligent people often reach different conclusions.

You should not be protected from this. Rather, it is this concept itself that should be protected.

I said there are no safe spaces. That’s true. But, it’s a relative concept. Some places are safer than others. And the very safest spaces are full of people with different ideas who express them freely.

That freedom is far more important than your imagined right to a life free of perceived insult.

(Incidentally, that freedom, and a lot of others like it, is also closely tied to GUNS. But we’ll leave that for another time.)

Go forward, young ones, armed with this truth. Be smarter. Know that I would never call you ridiculously mush-headed nitwits.

(But I get to if I want to. God bless America.)

Sincerely yours,
Bo

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2 thoughts on “Dear college students: There are no #safespaces”

  1. I may be totally wrong, as I’d never heard of the whole “safe space” thing before about 2 weeks ago. But, my take-away was that it was geared towards a safe place to be able to discuss your own issues (sexuality was the key thing that I heard about) in a “safe place” without fear of attack or negative response. Am I wrong?

    Reply
    • I think that’s the intent. The problem is that “safe” isn’t the same thing for everyone. And the way it has gone, most recently at Yale but also at several other institutions, is that as soon as someone is offended in an ostensible “safe space,” then the whole thing turns into aggressively policing speech. (Uncontroversial speech isn’t what the First Amendment is intended to protect.)

      There is not a place in the world where you’re guaranteed that no one will offend you. Trying to construct such places for college students, in addition to frequently turning them into braying asses, does them a disservice.

      Reply

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