Political Correctness On College Campuses

The sole purpose of higher education is to further implement knowledge and instruction within students’ lives. Colleges strive to challenge students to a greater degree than traditional schooling, and as a result, students can apply this substantial knowledge to their occupation and daily lives. In addition to obtaining rewarding knowledge, students are submerged into a culturally diverse atmosphere that consists of differing viewpoints and traditions. This diversity also offers students the opportunity to experience new and enticing religions, languages, music, and other cultural aspects. Although college is an exemplary opportunity for learning, there is a flaw within its systems. Students and even some staff members tend to discriminate

“Practitioners of such attitudes are intolerant of other opinions and attitudes, they contend, and if supporters of political correctness have their way, the United States will become a nation intolerant of opposing viewpoints” (Political Correctness on College Campuses). Several opponents argue that political correctness stifles intellectual freedoms by limiting students from expressing their own views whether they are opposing or not. “Attempts to promote political correctness have stifled free speech and limited intellectual discourse on college campuses. They are also undemocratic” (Political Correctness on College Campuses). Trigger warnings ¬¬¬¬— notifications that content a student would see may trigger flashbacks or a resurgence of emotion from previous traumatic events — tend to patronize students and suggest that comfort is a higher priority than intelligence. Students are no longer challenged in college classes out of fear of being overly offensive, and politically controversial topics, such as sex, race, class, capitalism, are usually avoided within the classroom. Many students and faculty are extremely cautious about stating their opinions. “Faculty members are terrified of facing accusations of triggering trauma—or more consequentially, violating her school's new sexual-harassment policy—merely by carrying out the

“‘Opponents of political correctness,’ columnist J. Bryan Lowder wrote in Slate in January 2015, ‘often act as if millions of well-meaning American citizens are daily receiving cease-and-desist orders from so-called Social Justice Warriors. This is not true’" (Political Correctness). Additionally, political correctness does not inhibit expression or narrow intelligence as proposed by opponents. “It is a way of adjusting to an environment, political and otherwise, that gives so many of us newfound exposure to each other….These are gestures that say, basically, 'we're trying' to see things from each other's viewpoint” (Political Correctness). Students are free to express their own opinions and views, but they should avoid bigoted assumptions and statements. They are not being intellectually limited by carefully considering the psychological effects of humiliating another culture or race, but they are being courteous and respectful to differing cultures and races. Trigger warnings are also wrongly and frequently mischaracterized by opponents as catering to delicate feelings. Trigger warnings evoke a physical or psychological response to a survived trauma; however, opponents believe that trigger warnings restrict intellectual debates or conversations. “Speaking about trigger warnings as though they exist for the purposes of indulging fragile sensibilities