Recently, the University of Chicago said in a letter to new students that it does not condone the creation of safe spaces for students, nor support trigger warnings because it believes censoring ideas limits academic freedom, thus preventing students from learning concepts they are uncomfortable with.
The notion of creating safe spaces is especially prevalent in university environments. A safe space can be defined as a safe place for marginalized groups, including LGBTQ+ students, racial minorities, and students with disabilities.
A safe space isn’t about being a “social justice warrior” or about stopping people from expressing their ideas. It’s a place where marginalized people can speak without fear of being mocked, discriminated, or harmed. It’s where they can talk about their marginalized identity without the conversation being derailed.
It’s important to remember that safe spaces began as a way to encourage freedom of speech. Because of how quickly time moves, it’s easy to forget that the notion of equality is a relatively new concept. Take LGBTQ+ rights, for example. Same-sex marriage in Canada has only been legal for 11 years, and it was not legal across the United States until last year. There’s still a long way to go for complete equality. Sex education in schools is still mostly straight, people can get away with homophobic slurs, and children still hesitate when coming out to their parents. Where else can an LGBTQ+ youth talk freely about their gender or sexuality without fear of danger, if not in a safe space? Certainly not at Parliament Hill, where people still sit with their signs that protest gay relationships.
Trigger warnings are supposed to alert people to trauma, like a rated ‘R’ movie. And safe spaces use these warnings to alert people about sensitive topics like rape, molestation, and other traumatic events one may have faced in their lives. The presence of a safe space doesn’t infantilize people, it respects them.
Of course, different words trigger different people. It’s impossible to keep track of what triggers who and if it’s your fault that you’ve triggered them even though you could have done it unwillingly. The world isn’t a safe space from every single word in the universe, and most people know that it’s not.
No one is there to coddle you at a safe space. Safe spaces simply provide a place where you know you will be heard.
