The Coddling of the American Mind

                  “What are we doing to our students if we encourage them to develop extra-thin skin just before they leave the cocoon of adult protection?”  The essence of Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt’s argument is neatly summarized by this quotation from their article entitled The Coddling of the American Mind.  (pg. 47) They argue that the current generation of college students has grown up to be hypersensitive to words or actions, finding offense in the smallest of things.  College students, as well as college professors and administrators, are susceptible to being told that something trivial they said or did is actually something that another person found offensive. 

                  The main argument expressed by the authors can be seen through the following quotation, where they ask:

“What exactly are students learning when they spend four years or more in a community that polices unintentional slights, places warning labels on works of classic literature, and in many other ways conveys the sense that words can be forms of violence that require strict control by campus authorities, who are expected to act as both protectors and prosecutors?”

It is nearly impossible to learn anything new when one is not being exposed to new or different ideas.  I agree with the authors that student’s minds should not be infested by the belief that so many things can be offensive, a point that needs emphasizing since so many people believe that they need to be protected from the bad of the world. (pg. 64) At first glance, the people that are “coddled” might say that there are not any negative effects of being not offensive and being politically correct all of the time, but on closer inspection, there are actual affects on how students are learning and how they will think about the world after they graduate and continue on to the work force. (pg. 96) These students are not open to learning about people that are different from them, and think differently and have different ideas and morals.  Therefore, they cannot learn from these other people, because they will be criticizing them for what they say and saying that they are taking offense to views that are not their own.  Many college students today believe that they have the “right to not be offended.”  While it is true that you should not have to struggle through your days being constantly ridiculed, taking offense can easily become extraneous, which is what the article is all about. (pg. 89)

                  The article brings up one final point about how being protected from the world through this quote by psychiatrist Sarah Roff, author of an online article in The Chronicle of Higher Education:

“One of my biggest concerns about trigger warnings,” Roff wrote, “is that they will apply not just to those who have experienced trauma, but to all students, creating an atmosphere in which they are encouraged to believe that there is something dangerous or damaging about discussing difficult aspects of our history.”

Essentially what she is saying is that if people need trigger warnings for a subject that they have not personally encountered, then they will become fearful of the world and things that are not common to have happen. 

                  I thought this article had many valid points, and I could not say that I disagreed with any of it.  Sensitivity is such a big issue today, and many times it is difficult to find the right words to try and not offend other people.