The Current College Generation

“We are a bunch of pussies,” replied Justin Singh-Courtney, a freshman at University California, Davis, to a very simple question: Is our (current college students) generation more sensitive than our parents’ generation? As high schools and college have begun incorporating more trigger warnings, diversity trainings, and awareness days it has become a pressing issue as to the line where sensitivity ends and coddling begins.
Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt wrote a piece for The Atlantic claiming, “A movement is arising, undirected and driven largely by students, to scrub campuses clean of words, ideas, and subjects that might cause discomfort or give offense.” They argue the point of college is to expand the mind and test conventional ways
of thought and outdated information, meaning no subject or words should be off limits. Others, particularly younger journalists believe that in order for students to learn better they need to be in a safe environment and know they will not feel oppressed or offended. In addition, as social movements have been diffusing more rapidly thanks to social media and a new wave of ‘slacktivism’ people in general seem to be more aware of racial, gender, and socioeconomic issues that might not necessarily affect them, creating more empathy among our more ‘woke’ and worldly generation.
Among the people I surveyed, four college students and my own parents, there was a consensus that yes the current college generation is more sensitive that their parents, but they all highlighted a vast variety of reasons.
Emilia Sloane and Juliana Zatz-Watkins, freshmen at St. Olaf College and University of California Santa Cruz highlighted the shift of stigma surrounding mental health. Zatz-Watkins argues, “people seem to be more aware of other people’s feelings… But people are much more aware of mental health issues which allows people to express their insecurities more now. In the past people had to deal with issues by themselves because it was taboo to speak about them… It’s more acceptable to express your sensitivities than it was in the past.” Sloane also believes that our increasing awareness of mental health issues has made a difference, especially considering mental health was often not acknowledged or discussed when our parents grew up. Two of the main reasons mental health has become more acceptable to talk about would be a greater number of people are from it as well as a growing knowledge via the internet. The internet allows barriers or unknowns to be broken down and understood, including mental health. A person who has never experienced depression and does not know anyone afflicted by it can still learn everything about the disease through Twitter, The New York Times, or
WebMD. The internet along with globalization has facilitated a growing feeling of intersectionality among minorities. Landon Smith, a freshman at University of Puget Sound believe our generation is a product of this, “because social issues are forming a complicated web of ideas that allow for people to identify with many different issues that might have been considered insignificant in the past, and now these issues become very sensitive and ‘problematic’ for us now.” Our generation has been exposed to many more ideas, and now a minority’s voice is just as valid and equal on the platform of social media. Another reason oppression has become more noticeable is economic inequality. Socioeconomic class affects every American and it can highlight other differences. While interviewing my dad, born in 1957 grew up during the height of capitalism and economic equality. Everyone had at least one car, a suburban house with a white picket fence, and stay at home moms did not have to worry about working to make ends meet. My dad claims, “We were never taught tolerance because we were all taught to identify as Americans first and that we all have equal opportunities so just suck it up.” Given the strong sense of nationalism post World War II, it was a privilege to be in America and identify as American, the new world power. Nothing else mattered because it was the land of opportunity for everyone and anything was possible, no matter what chip off the shoulder \someone had. Now with income inequality rivaling the state of the 1920’s and movements like Occupy Wall Street, there is a national struggle between the haves and have-nots; and the have-nots are trying to figure out why they are not haves. Race and gender are reoccurring patterns in those who are oppressed. And as awareness of this has spread people have become more aware of what further oppresses these groups; thus making it seem as though our generation is more sensitive. Sensitivity is difficult to measure is society, but it obviously has increased within the current generation that is coming of age, especially compared with their parents’. A deadly combination of internet based diffusion or knowledge, globalization, and economic insecurity has led to an increased awareness of oppression and stigmas faced by non white, non cis men, non mentally healthy, and non rich people. This awareness has promoted tolerance but has had its backlashes. Censoring slurs or topics in classrooms can prevent further learning, but ensuring a ‘safe space’ can help students learn better, but then are schools censoring other students in the name of creating that ideal space? Only our sensitive generation will be able to figure that our by trial and error. Maybe we really are “just a bunch of pussies.”