How creating safe spaces influences college environment

Argumentative essay
One of the major and challenging reforms in modern day higher education is the notion of safe spaces for students. Even though the concept of safe spaces is multifaceted, in this paper, it will be used to mean the shielding of students from ideological facets considered to be threatening to the students, be it religious ideology, or ideology against minority or marginalized student groups (Rose; Guterl). The paper will argue based on two articles; “Point/Counterpoint: Do safe spaces belong on college campuses?” by Yue Zhang and Kavahn Mansouri and “How Trigger Warnings Silence Religious Students” by Alan Levinovitz. The opinion held in this paper is that, safe spaces have no place in campuses, and the reasons supporting this opinion are presented in the body of this paper.
The concept of safe spaces within institutions of higher education is based on the Title IX and sex discrimination law of 1972. The law which was intended to protect students from sexual discrimination has been well adopted and useful in its application. The safe space concept is considered to be an expansion of the Title IX law however, its adoption and application has been growingly controversial (Rose). Even though some, especially campus administrators consider it essential for the protection of disempowered and marginalized student groups, the majority of scholars consider it to be misplaced and its application contrary to the core function of an institution of higher learning, which is to open up an individual intellectually.
Safe spaces in campuses are misplaced and ill-advised because, one, the purpose of a campus is not just to transmit skill, but to also widen the ideological perspectives of a student. At a campus, a student should be willing to open their horizon hence develop the ability to independently evaluate information which they are obviously to encounter once they leave campus (Rose). By being open to a wide variety of ideologies, it helps a student to be a better citizen, become more creative, and more stable in analyzing new ideas. The introduction of safe spaces in campuses limits the variety of ideas presented to students, limits debates and arguments, prevents students from testing other people’s theories, and continues to limits people to their own narrow views on issues.
Two, a wide variety of ideas and different types of diverse perspectives are important within the environment of a campus for they encourage and promote liberal democracy while at the same time cultivating tolerance which in multiple ways is diametrical to human instincts (Rose). Campus graduates end up occupying some of the crucial decision-making positions within a nation, it is important that such persons be able to live side by side with opinions, perspectives, ideas, and ways of life that they don’t like. Even though tolerance doesn’t equal to acceptance, it allows for the ability to speak one’s mind on an issue that he/she doesn’t like. It is noteworthy that through tolerance, an individual is able to refrain from using such means including intimidation, violence, bans, and threats to silence those on the other side (Zhang and Mansouri). The use of safe spaces in campuses limits a student from experiencing these benefits.
Three, one of the primary concerns in the entire globe right now is how to fight and overcome extremism and the concept of destructive polarization. Even though people on the two divides on the matter have very sensitive views and opinions, one of the possible ways to successes against extremism is through debate. Research shows that when two likeminded people meet, they are more likely to drift to the extreme, which is what safe spaces do (Levinovitz). On the other hand, when disagreeing parties meet, people on the left and people on the right, they are able to diffuse their sharp opinion and even compromise to a consensus and move to the middle where everyone is comfortable. More importantly, this insight is not limited to politics and religion, but also its relevant and applicable in businesses, families, in student-organizations, and basically in everyday living where two or more people come together.
Four, safe spaces and their practice provides a pathway to limitation and silencing of some otherwise controversial positions. For example, civil right and the LGBT rights movement are important positions in any democratic society, but can easily be invisible within the society (Rose). The conversation between opposing views allows for a process that is fundamental to an individual and closely borders on free speech. Safe spaces within a campus promote the walling off of students with competing views which is contrary to the requirements of a healthy civil community.
The proponents of safe spaces argue that they are crucial for the protection of disempowered and marginalized students within the campus environment (Levinovitz; Zhang and Mansouri). This argument is mostly fronted by campus administrators who consider it part of their responsibility to protect each student. Even though the intent of safe spaces in this content might sound convincing and appropriate, the fact of the matter is that, this notion contracts the entire purpose of a university, which is basically a place of diversity. Even though it’s important to protect each student against physical harm, for intellectual purposes safe spaces do limit the very same students it is meant to protect, by encasing them further into their ideological cocoons.
In conclusion, safe spaces within campus contradict the purpose of a campus which is not only to transmit skill, but to also widen the ideological perspectives of a student. A wide variety of ideas and different types of diverse perspectives are important within the environment of a campus for they encourage and promote liberal democracy while at the same time cultivating tolerance. Research shows that when two likeminded people meet, they are more likely to drift to the extreme while when disagreeing parties meet; they are able to develop compromises. Safe spaces and their practice provide a pathway to limitation and silencing of some otherwise controversial positions. Even though the proponents of safe spaces argue they are meant to protect disempowered and marginalized students, ultimately they work against them by limiting them to their narrow views. Based on these arguments, the proposition that safe spaces are misplaced within campuses is adopted.


Works cited
Guterl, Matthew Pratt. “On Safety and Safe Spaces.” Inside Higher Ed. August 29, 2016. Web. 2 October 2017. safe spaces are considered a necessity and an integral part of protecting students on the campuses
Levinovitz, Alan. “How Trigger Warnings Silence Religious Students.” The Atlantic. Aug. 30, 2016. Web. 2 October 2017. safe spaces help create a sense of boundaries on religious fanaticism within campuses thus increasing security
Rose, Flemming. “Safe Spaces On College Campuses Are Creating Intolerant Students.” The World Post. Updated Jun 12, 2017. Web. 2 October 2017. safe spaces can create restrictions on growth and tolerance levels of students as interactions with different minded people is limited
Zhang, Yue and Mansouri, Kavahn. “Point/Counterpoint: Do safe spaces belong on college campuses?” USA Today. November 22, 2016. Web. 2 October 2017. arguments are put forth on the necessity and/or drawbacks of safe spaces within college campuses