Deller, Ruth A.

English

Sheffield Hallam University Research Archive

'Academics cry censorship, students cry trauma': Media representations of ‘safer spaces’ debates in Higher EducationDELLER, Ruth <http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4935-980X>Available from Sheffield Hallam University Research Archive (SHURA) at:http://shura.shu.ac.uk/23032/This document is the author deposited version.  You are advised to consult the publisher's version if you wish to cite from it.Published versionDELLER, Ruth (2017). 'Academics cry censorship, students cry trauma': Media representations of ‘safer spaces’ debates in Higher Education. In: MeCCSA 2017 Conference, Leeds, UK, 11-13 Jan 2017. (Unpublished) Copyright and re-use policySee http://shura.shu.ac.uk/information.htmlSheffield Hallam University Research Archivehttp://shura.shu.ac.uk‘Academics cry censorship. Students cry trauma.’ Media representations of ‘safer spaces’ debates in Higher Education Ruth A Deller, Sheffield Hallam University @ruthdeller r.a.deller@shu.ac.uk Trigger Warning: this piece discusses trigger warnings. It may also look askance at college students who are now asking that trigger warnings be applied to their course materials. It illustrated this generation’s almost belligerent sense of entitlement. They assume their emotional suffering takes precedence. Express a view they disagree with and you must immediately recant and apologise… Generation Snowflake believe it’s their right to be protected from anything they might find unpalatable.  This mindset is particularly rife in universities. The examples are beyond parody: a National Union of Students conference banning clapping as it might trigger trauma (‘please use jazz hands’, delegates were told); the Edinburgh University student threatened with expulsion from a meeting after raising her hand in disagreement.  Last year, students at the University of East Anglia banned a Mexican restaurant from giving out sombreros because of racist stereotyping. In March, Cambridge University banned an ‘Around The World in 80 Days’ themed party over fears wearing ethnic costumes might cause offence. Students demand that universities are ‘safe spaces’, free from opinions that will make them feel uncomfortable. There has been a rise in ‘No platforming’ - barring someone with controversial views from speaking at an event at all.  Faced with such thin-skinned students, no wonder Oxford University has introduced ‘trigger warnings’ about ‘potentially distressing subject matter’ in law lectures on cases involving sexual violence… Meanwhile, the old motto ‘Sticks and stones . . .’ is now forgotten, as we teach children that words can indeed hurt them.  The little emperors have grown up. The babies of the late 90s – mollycoddled by their parents, spoon-fed by their teachers, indulged by society – have now reached university. Some of the brighter ones are now at Oxford, demanding that the Cecil Rhodes statue at Oriel should be torn down, because of his imperialist, racist views. We shouldn’t be so surprised. If you’ve had a lifetime of people saying “yes” to you, of never being told off, you remain frozen in a permanent state of supersensitivity. I wasn’t offended by the Rhodes statue when I was at Oxford 20 years ago. But, even if I had been, I wouldn’t have thought my wounded feelings should be cured by tearing apart the delicate fabric of a beautiful university.  Universities are reaping the whirlwind of two decades of child-centred education. That whirlwind has imported imbecilic trigger warnings – when academics have to warn students that western European literature, from the Iliad on, is full of sex and violence. It has also brought the pernicious idea of “no-platforming” – when students refuse to give a stage to anyone who doesn’t fit with their narrow view of the world…  The same applies to the row over Rhodes’s statue. The authorities at the university have, so far, continued to pamper the student emperors. Every time the authorities are accused of racism, they bend over backwards to soothe the offended egos of the little, tinpot dictators – rather than telling them that they, the teachers, are there to tell the students what to do; and not the other way round. They're very upset, it seems, that young people today aren't like young people back then. Although they're quite unsure what exactly it is they're upset about.  As it currently stands there are two strands of thought. Firstly there's camp "Generation Snowflake", who think young people are oversensitive and infantile. In light of increasing debate around safe spaces and free speech, writers from all corners of the over-40 Twittersphere have started getting vitriolic about what wimps young people are… Although that's only half the story, because, like a "troubled student" locked in a room with his mum, headteacher and therapist, nobody can quite settle on what exactly is wrong with us. The second strain of thought suggests the exact opposite… if you're not a blubbing infant, you're in fact too clean-living, too sensible, too polite.  

'Academics cry censorship, students cry trauma': Media representations of ‘safer spaces’ debates in Higher Education

http://shura.shu.ac.uk/23032/2/Deller_AcademicsCryCensorship.pdf

'Academics cry censorship, students cry trauma': Media representations of ‘safer spaces’ debates in Higher Education

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Sheffield Hallam University Research Archive