This year in review, originally posted September 27, 2015
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This is what we’re raising folks… a generation of wimps! Harsh criticism? Maybe. But consider this case-in-point…
A right-leaning, independent school newspaper at Claremont Colleges got creative with their advertising slogan printed on t-shirts:
“Claremont Independent: Always Right”
The detractors came out in droves with online bullies taking to social media calling the newspaper and their journalists:
- “Racist”
“Ignorant”
“Idiotic”
“White supremacists”
Name-calling doesn’t further the conversation. And as if the name-calling weren’t enough, some took it a little more personally saying:
- They were “insensitive”
Making them “emotionally ill”
OVER T-SHIRTS, people!!! Are you kidding me? If a slogan on a t-shirt makes you “emotionally ill” you need to seek psychiatric help. Literally. Not figuratively. Stop reading and call NOW!
We’ve gotten to the point where teachers have to issue “trigger warnings” before discussing certain topics in class so as not to offend those with heightened sensibilities. And, no, I’m not being insensitive. Trigger warnings are no longer reserved for those who’ve been subjected to violent assaults or PTSD. They are now applicable to those who are offended by every “microaggression” you can think of, as well as a whole host of them that one would NEVER imagine could cause “trauma” to anyone.
If kids can no longer handle a slogan on a t-shirt, then frank and honest discussions surrounding controversial issues like race, religion, sexism, ethnicity, immigration, and gender are DEFINITELY going to be a problem. How, exactly, will we ever solve anything? These kids are our future leaders, and we’ve raised them to be so sensitive to every little thing, that they can handle NOTHING!
Can you even imagine what the future workforce will look like? Will “trigger warnings” and “microaggressions” become fire-able offenses? Seriously people, we need to lighten up here… and toughen up. No one guaranteed you the right NOT to be offended. So deal with. It’s not a crime… at least not yet.
How about, instead of pointing out the offense and commencing with the name-calling, we reach out and have a civilized discussion in an attempt to bridge the differences, or at a minimum, gain some understanding about each other? It’s the only way to move the conversation forward. What we’ve been doing isn’t working.
H/T TheCollegeFix
Photo credit Joseph Antoniello