According To Cutterham's Essay, Students Are Anything But Coddled Summary

Cutterham’s essay, Students are Anything but Coddled, is effective because it uses classroom dynamics and university protests. Cutterham uses examples of how students are changing the dynamic in clasrooms and on campuses through social media and protests and argues that students are not soft and pampered.

In his essay, Cutterham uses the example of protesting students to show that today’s students are not “coddled”. He uses an example of Naimh McIntyre. She states that students are committed to eliminating problems in society by standing up, which takes a lot of strength (Cutterham 2). There were also protests against Condoleezza Rice speaking at Rutgers University because students disagreed with her views.Cutterham also uses the example of O’Neil’s Spectator article. He states that universities should share the goal of protestors: to create an environment where no one feels threatened or belittled. He also includes the example of how student’s protests led to “the temporary disbandment of the London School of Economics’ rugby club” (3) when the club had

Cutterham states that on campus, “social media can…[link] together voices that are otherwise marginalized and disconnected” (2). While critics claim students are losing their critical thinking skills, Cutterham states that “students are using their critical faculties to uncover structures of power in their own academic and social environment” (2). He also states that professors and other educators are becoming more “coddled” than their students and are afraid that their mishaps and small mistakes will cause them to be torn to shreds (2). He also says that in wanting students to end protests “for their own good”, they are trying to protect themselves. This is the change in dynamic that is Cutterham is using for his