The cost of Healthy eating
Josh Piszker
Staff Writer
At length I thought about “Indoctrinate U,” the documentary that demonstrates students losing freedom to voice opinion, the intolerance of students, university administrators, and faculty members; this stirred up gut wrenching feelings of nervousness and frustration inside me.
The fact that the film outlines instances when individual opinions are not tolerated and treated with respect is nothing less than aggravating. When thinking about college and higher education certain words and principles come to mind, words like critical thinking, exploring unknowns, and achievement. When an atmosphere of intolerance is prevalent in our universities these principles of education seem to be forgotten.
The type of speech code discrimination outlined in “Indoctrinate U” prevents important topics from being discussed, even in a constructive degree. And it is unfortunate that we see this in our nations top universities, in the places where our future leaders and pillars our educated. This will affect all of us in some negative way, directly or indirectly.
It is a sad day when students are no longer allowed to express their thoughts. The fact that many students are sanctioned because other students feel harassed or offended by opinions shows that many of our schools our reluctant to teach critical thinking, constructive criticism, and the idea of having an open dialog in our educational facilities.
Students’ feeling so harassed by opposing opinions is frightening. What will happen when the school is not around to defend these vulnerable young minds, to discriminate against controversial viewpoints? It seems apparent to me that many students are often radicalized in this context. And the end result is not conducive with the standards and foundations we expect from higher educational facilities; in most cases we expect our students to leave these institutions cultured, but the reverse is occurring.
We need to encourage an open dialog no matter how touchy the issue is; whether the topic is homosexuality, race issues or race relations, or issues of a political nature. We must not gag opinions or discredit them by discrediting the speaker. This is what we see in American politics now-a-days, republican pundits at democrat’s throat, or vice versa. This separates us, adds to the polarization of America, and causes more problems than it solves. Diverse groups not working together to understand or come to a common consensus, we see them bashing through, attempting to silence the opposition at any opportunity.
Last time I checked freedom of speech was not restricted to “you have the freedom to speak as long as the others agree with you” or “you have the freedom to speak, but sprinkle your statement with sugar and put a cherry on top.” But apparently many fellow Americans do not feel the same. At what point can we just say “that is your opinion, this is mine. Let us agree to disagree.” Or how about trying to understand and learn from others perspectives, and debating in a civil manner.
It seems many students are moving into a future of real intolerance. When words are just as dangerous as weapons.