With all of the limitations and restrictions currently found on public university campuses, students are being sheltered and living within a bubble of comfort, which will ultimately pop after graduation. By keeping college students from exposure to the world and what is going on from all different sides, they are kept from forming their own opinions and kept from learning how to handle opposition from others. Instead of debating and discussing with peers civilly and forming ideas to refute offensive or opposing speech, shutting down speech has become the easiest solution to spare someone’s own feelings. Actions by public administrators, allowing the destruction of free speech, have led to an overwhelming percentage, at 63% of liberal students
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These statistics shows the true extent and consequence of allowing students to avoid exposure to differing opinions they may find offensive. Furthermore, the extent of First Amendment has been lost on campuses as only 46% of students know that hate speech is protected as part of the first amendment (“Student Attitudes Free Speech Survey”). The unfortunate result of administrators’ overprotection of students from speech is that many students advocate free speech, but only when it is their free speech or ideas they are willing to or want to hear. By disinviting unpopular speakers and shutting down people’s speech out of fear of offending students, administrators are keeping their students from realising what freedom of speech really means. College is supposed to be a time to explore all ideas and form your own, but that can only happen with exposure, something currently being denied many college students. By public administrators denying speakers and even students to speak and express themselves, they are throwing young adults into their lives with the mindset that you don’t have to hear any offensive speech or speech against your own values. Students are given the idea that the world is going to be just as sheltered when in reality free speech is present
These statistics shows the true extent and consequence of allowing students to avoid exposure to differing opinions they may find offensive. Furthermore, the extent of First Amendment has been lost on campuses as only 46% of students know that hate speech is protected as part of the first amendment (“Student Attitudes Free Speech Survey”). The unfortunate result of administrators’ overprotection of students from speech is that many students advocate free speech, but only when it is their free speech or ideas they are willing to or want to hear. By disinviting unpopular speakers and shutting down people’s speech out of fear of offending students, administrators are keeping their students from realising what freedom of speech really means. College is supposed to be a time to explore all ideas and form your own, but that can only happen with exposure, something currently being denied many college students. By public administrators denying speakers and even students to speak and express themselves, they are throwing young adults into their lives with the mindset that you don’t have to hear any offensive speech or speech against your own values. Students are given the idea that the world is going to be just as sheltered when in reality free speech is present