Age of the Geek

There is no "safe space" in the real world
     At Yale University, administrator Nicholas Christakis was surrounded by a group of angry students and shouted at. His offense: Having the audacity to attempt explaining to them what freedom of speech means.
     The controversy began when his wife, Erika Christakis, a fellow teacher, sent out an e-mail suggesting that potentially offensive Halloween costumes probably aren’t the root of all evil and if people didn’t like them, they could simply ignore them.
     Unable to understand that somebody can disagree with what somebody says while still defending their right to say it, students are now trying to get the Christakis fired because their views on freedom of expression threaten the student’s ideas of “safe space.”
     At Williams College, Suzanne Venker was disinvited from speaking at the “Uncomfortable Learning” speaker series. The reason: Students were afraid that hearing her views on the failings of modern day feminism might make some of them uncomfortable. Yes, they were afraid of hearing an uncomfortable viewpoint at a series called “Uncomfortable Learning.”
     One wonders why those students didn’t do what a student at Brown University did and set up a “safe space” room in response to one of their potentially “triggering” lectures. In the event that a student might hear something they disagreed with, a room was set up with cookies, coloring books, bubbles and pillows for the offended student to retreat to.
     Yes. Supposedly grown adults came up with this idea for other supposedly grown adults.
     For some reason, I can’t help but feel like this is the result of giving kids “participation trophies.”
     Apparently under the impression that they have an inalienable right to not be offended, the inability of the modern college student to withstand an opinion they disagree with has resulted in a loss of respect for our First Amendment.
     This came to a head last week when protesters at the University of Missouri bullied, intimidated and then physically removed a student photographer from the public grounds of the campus.
     Yes, these protesters were arguing against the First Amendment while exercising their own right to protest. Whatever their cause is, there is no excuse for that kind of behavior.
     The six and a half minute video of Tim Tai trying to explain First Amendment press protections to a group of students acting more like eight year olds than adults, complete with “I’m not touching you, you’re touching me!” antics, is immensely frustrating to watch. These were not idealists working towards a noble cause. They were childish bullies, plain and simple.
     Even though he eventually caved in to the mob, all credit must be given to Tai for keeping a level head throughout the encounter. I’ve never experienced such obstruction in my career, but I’m confident I would have been less polite by the three-minute mark.
     Mark Schierbecker, the journalist who filmed the encounter, had his own run-in with the protesters immediately after Tai was pushed away. Except his confrontation wasn’t with students, but a teacher.
     Melissa Click, an associate professor with the university, attempted to physically take the camera from Schierbecker when he got close to the protest camps. When her own efforts failed, she called for “some muscle” to have Schierbecker removed from the public space.
     Click, it should be noted, is not a teacher at the university’s school of journalism, although until this week she did hold a courtesy appointment. Still, she maintains her position as an assistant professor with the department of communications, working on research projects that involve “50 Shades of Grey readers” and “the impact of social media in fans’ relationship with Lady Gaga.”
     No, I’m not kidding.
     Schierbecker has been less forgiving than Tai about the ordeal and has filed simple assault charges against Click. One would hope that if the president of the university has to step down for not responding strongly enough to a fecal swastika that may or may not have existed, a teacher that physically assaults a student wouldn’t last long either.
     I thought that a teacher violating the First Amendment on the grounds of one of nation’s top journalism schools would be the worst thing to happen last week, but then ISIS carried out a devastating terrorist attack on Paris.
     It’s a stark contrast to behold. While a bunch of overly entitled crybabies are desperately seeking out new things to be offended by in a contest to see who can be the biggest victim, terrorists were plotting the death of hundreds of civilians.
     The tragedy provides a grim reminder that there’s another group out there intolerant of opposing viewpoints and willing to resort to violence to protect their “safe space.”
     I’ve been watching the slow growth of this problem for more than a year now. The perpetually offended, on a constant search to weed out “microaggressions” and things they consider “problematic,” have been making waves here and there for a while.
     For the most part they are simply annoying. Most of their complaints are so petty and ill-informed they aren’t worth responding to. But now that these attitudes have started to become so prevalent that it’s beginning to infringe on the First Amendment, it’s probably time to speak up.
     Not every constitutional amendment is a winner. The 18th Amendment was a huge mistake and the Second Amendment has long since become outdated and disconnected from its original intent. The First Amendment, however, is even more important in today’s Information Age than it was in 1789.
     The freedom of expression protected by the First Amendment is the cornerstone of our country. It is what makes America great. The marketplace of ideas demands that opinions be both expressed and challenged so that only the most worthy make their way to the top. Colleges are supposed to the center of this intellectual discourse, but “safe spaces” where people barricade themselves against any opposing point of view run contrary to that philosophy.
     It’s past time for these students to grow up.
 
     Travis Fischer is a news writer for Mid-America Publishing and may not agree with what all people say, but will always defend their right to say it.