By Alec Liberman
Opinions Contributor
Late in August, rising college freshmen bid adieu to their parents and moved to their university campuses. Tears were shed and lifelong friendships began to form; nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
However, on August 24th, incoming freshmen received a peculiar letter from the Dean of Students at the University of Chicago pertaining to the freedom of speech.
In no uncertain terms, Dean John Ellison stated that the University of Chicago valued freedom of speech and that there would be no safe spaces or trigger warnings. He went on to say that “the members of this community must have the freedom to espouse and explore a wide range of ideas.”
While not exactly controversial, the letter wasn’t taken lightly. It could be considered as the next step in the debate over freedom of speech across the country.
So with that, you might now be thinking, “what’s the point of this article?”
Well, let me tell you.
I ask that this year, each and every student at South expresses his opinion in some way, shape, or form, regardless of whether or not the majority of their peers might agree. I ask that we, as a community, open ourselves up to all opinions and give each person the respect that they deserve, even if your opinion is the polar opposite of theirs.
South is a very liberal community, but many of us, albeit subconsciously, tend to ostracize those that don’t follow the herd, so to speak. This year, I hope that changes.
I hope that more students start expressing their opinion in the hopes of creating a more diversely-opinionated community. I hope that students no longer ridicule or snicker at those they don’t agree with. Likewise, I hope that students with differing opinions will be less afraid to speak their minds and not get offended when inevitably disagreed with.
In other words, I hope that now more than ever we can have civilized and constructive discussions about hot political topics. From my experience over the last two years of South, the discussion has been incredibly one-sided, a bit like ,“This is how you should think. The other opinion is wrong.”
By encouraging discussion and the voicing of all opinions, I believe that we can all expand our knowledge of politics and the world around us. I think that by talking about issues and even getting upset, we learn things that we would not learn otherwise.
For everyone reading this article, I ask of you one thing: do not make fun of someone whose opinion isn’t similar to yours. Of course, someone’s opinion can be taken as offensive, but so be it. This is high school, and soon enough, we will all be out in the real world, where there’s no teacher or administrative member to run to.
Over the course of the next 10 months, I hope that every student gets the chance to voice his or her opinion without getting ridiculed, no matter how offensive that opinion is. As you start this year of high school, be it your first or our fourth, I ask that you remember this one quote by novelist Salman Rushdie: “What is freedom of expression? Without freedom to offend, it ceases to exist.”
