The term “safe space”, a supposed haven where students of minority and marginalization can feel free to express their ideas and be themselves has started a movement across college campuses nationwide. The newfangled movement is driven largely by students who wish to scrub campuses clean of offensive or discomforting topics. Safe spaces emerged during the post-Civil Rights era where women, LGBTQ, and racial minorities grew in presence on campuses; however, today they serve as refuges for like-minded people who don’t feel the need to explain or defend their personal beliefs. Recently, the safe space debate has taken a controversial turn: arguments and cases have been created over whether safe spaces provide a supportive environment or cultivate …show more content…
As previously mentioned, Hannah Miller asserts that the incorporation of safe spaces is a beneficial and advantageous asset for students. Safe spaces yield an opportunity to garner sympathy and understanding from compassionate peers who have undergone similar experiences, as a result, these supportive environments increase the happiness of marginalized students (Source A). While this may be true, safe spaces impede fully inclusive dialogue, which allows students to protect themselves from engaging in difficult topics. This ignorance hinders the expansion of knowledge and aids the development of myopic views which students acquire through the use of safe spaces. Not only do safe spaces promote close- mindedness, but they also encourage isolation between students and BLANK subjects, as illustrated in Matt Davies cartoon (Source D). Furthermore, while safe spaces can be hubs of conversation, they are however, conversations between like-minded students (Source C). The aforementioned editor, Jonathan Sperling, reiterates the exigency in which college students must experience the plethora of distinct views, opinions, and beliefs of other pupils, in order to gain a well-rounded perspective on different subject matters. Additionally, students are able to learn and grow from these various viewpoints, accumulating an intellectual insight which will better equip them to handle “real world” challenges (Source