There is a lot of talk on the net these days about microagressions, and it's good netiquette to post trigger warnings before discussing sensitive topics. What's good in online forums isn't necessarily appropriate in-person, especially on University campuses. The cover article for September's edition of The Atlantic magazine discusses the harm that students' requests for trigger warnings on course content and accusations of microagression are causing, stifling open conversation on campuses across America. The authors also suggest that these student behaviors are actively causing harm to the students.
Avoiding trigger topics, instead of assisting those who have suffered traumas, perpetuates and enhances the pathology of the phobias they hope not to trigger. The hunt for microagression creates in the students cognitive distortions that are usually treated with cognitive behavioral therapy. The authors are calling this "The Coddling of the American Mind", and suggest it will create a generation of graduates unable to cope with the world after graduation.
The authors also appeared on the Diane Rehm show, on a segment called "The New Political Correctness: Why Some Fear It's Ruining American Education". Far from trying to shut down the conversation about race relations, the authors are trying to re-open it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 01 2015, @08:57PM
That's funny because when I studied mythology in grade school, never once did any teacher try to rape anyone.
But if you guys and gals would rather run from a lecture screaming rape rather than learn something...
I dunno, maybe you should be spending mommy's and daddy's money on something other than half an education.