It’s common knowledge that students have sometimes been the target of criticism from their peers throughout their whole academic experiences, and usually people would just shrug this off and move on. But due to large amounts of petitions and protests over recent years, some colleges have developed “safe spaces” for those who feel as if they are overwhelmingly attacked or threatened throughout the school day. A safe space is a designated area where people, mostly consisting of those who have felt historically oppressed, can go to interact and socialize with other people that they feel comfortable around. The argument goes that this, in turn, allows students to feel more secure and welcomed in their school environment.
However, not all colleges are warming up to this idea as some claim that they are childish and unnecessary. Many officials and even parents are beginning to say that students nowadays are too sensitive towards certain things such as name-calling, rejection or even unintentional ignorance from others. Everett Piper, the President of Oklahoma Wesleyan University, stated that his school is “Not a day care or a safe place, but a place to learn.” One attorney named Alan Dershowitz even goes so far as to call them a hypocrisy.
“They want complete control over their personal lives, over their sex lives, over their use of drugs, but they want mommy and daddy dean to please give them a safe place, to protect them from ideas that maybe are insensitive, maybe will make them think,” said Dershowitz.
Those colleges that have begun implementing these safe spaces within their campuses have actually started to notice a steady decline in absences and tardies from their students. The president of Northwestern University, Morton Schapiro, told of one Jewish graduate who said she finally felt relaxed and at ease after being criticized by students of other religions. These safe spaces have even begun to be implemented within Steinbrenner, as clubs like GSA have been going around campus and asking teachers to make their rooms designated areas to be deemed safe spaces. However, only time will tell if these spaces will become a widespread ideal not only within Steinbrenner’s campus, but with other high school and college campuses around the country.
