This past spring break, I visited a cousin at her small liberal arts college, where I thought, coming from Parker, I would feel entirely comfortable amidst the active social justice scene. After I returned home, however, my cousin texted me that one of her friends thought that I said some pretty “troubling stuff.” My faults, she informed me, included using the word “gay” in an “absolutist” way, and referring to someone as “black.”

We have all read about the clashes over controversial language and ideas on campuses across the country. There is no shortage of stories in which students demand–even violently protest–that speakers be uninvited from campus lectures.

In May 2016, US News ran the headline “Fear of offending others is stifling conversation and growth on college campuses today.” In September 2016, The Atlantic published an article titled, “How Political Correctness Chills Speech on Campus.” As recently as April 27, The L.A. Times covered the negative implications of Ann Coulter’s cancelled visit to UC Berkeley.  

In the weeks since that visit with my cousin, I have thought a lot about her friend’s comment. I have become increasingly self-conscious about sounding insensitive, even when I have the best of intentions. I have begun to doubt how my opinions will be perceived, or even if I should join the conversation, when I am talking about issues of race, gender, or politics that I am not expert in and with people who don’t know me well.

I have also begun to wonder whether we may be incubating our own fear of free speech here at Parker.

At Parker, our problem lies beyond the obvious obstacle of a stronger, more outspoken liberal presence than a conservative one. The reason for a withheld conservative voice is a concern that an outlier opinion will quickly become the topic of conversation behind one’s back.

Many upper schoolers who loosely define themselves as liberals are also slow to contribute to gender dialogues, Senate meetings, and even classroom discussions simply because they are afraid that their word choices or lack of correct terminology will come across as ignorant or offensive.

Students are well aware of how this intimate environment is one in which gossip spreads in the span of a passing period. So people often censor themselves, stopping short of expressing genuine concerns or challenging generally accepted viewpoints about sensitive issues.

The problem, as media sites have noted, is that stifling free speech actually promotes a type of intolerance that puts students at a disadvantage when entering a politically diverse country and world. It would be much better to normalize the process of talking and asking. It seems clear that the best way to understand why certain issues are sensitive to certain people is to be able to ask questions and have the conversation.

I write this, my final article for “The Parker Weekly,” as a senior who is grateful for the conversational skills with which Parker has provided me.  I think an additional assurance to future students will be even more freedom to think through and develop their beliefs without the fear of being shamed by the “P.C. Police.”   

Perhaps it is the responsibility of a high school to send students to college who are ready and able to handle and even welcome differences of opinion. I hope that Parker will graduate kids who can recognize when people are just ill-informed, when people simply disagree, and when there is an opportunity to engage in meaningful conversations to achieve mutual respect and understanding.