Summary Of Coddling Of The American Mind By Lukianoff And Haidt

In the article The Coddling of the American Mind, authors Lukianoff and Haidt argue that college students in contemporary America are becoming overly sensitive to abrasive topics because of exposure to an abstract version of reality that is being presented in the classroom. They propose that the use of trigger words in conjunction, with admonitory devices, which are intended to introduce students to controversial topics of discussion. These topics of discussion mimics the “Real World”, because typically these types of conversations are discussed in an open forum. The author’s use many images to crowd the page in the form of advertisements. Though visually striking, the article’s images themselves do not contribute to the argument presented,
It is not college that is to blame for providing some weird environment, absolutely separate from the “real” world, where strange liberal ideas can run amok, spawned by a small group of troubled minds whose strange message has now engulfed us all. The “problem” has to be traced further back. In my opinion these students have, nearly from birth, been gently beaten into insensibility by what we call the “college preparatory system.” Their very ability to navigate their way into college is predicated on their submission to a process of “college preparation” that for all intents and purposes begins with pre-school. It has hyper-organized them and leeched inquiry and experimentation and creativity out of them. They are risk-averse and yet — and here is the key point — they are taught to be tough (especially boys) and to stifle their senses of being harmed. Their programming is simply toward greater and greater efficiency, competitiveness, and performance