Americans born in 1996 and after are being called “Generation Z.” In today’s Martin Center article, writer Ben Cohen sees much to worry about in them.
The worst trait Cohen finds is that these kids tend to be intolerant — aggressively so. Here’s a revealing story. A Cal State professor who had retired but liked teaching so much that he took a job teaching math in a high school, noticed that one of the students was surreptitiously reading a book after having finished her exam. He told her that it was all right to read and that she need not hide her book. That innocent comment led to a complaint by another student, who was bothered that the prof was “advocating reading during class.”
The readiness among Gen Z kids to complain using official channels has caused many educators to say that they fear their students. Cohen writes, “Today, a student’s right not to be offended doesn’t depend on whether they’re justified in taking offense. The fact that a frivolous student complaint can potentially derail a career has a chilling effect on speech.”
Where does this intolerance come from? Cohen argues that the root seems to be a parenting style of “vindictive protectiveness” that seeks to shield youngsters from all physical and emotion dangers. What this has led to on our campuses is the mania over micro-aggression theory “which sees small slights as systemic oppression regardless of the speaker’s intent, and has been a tool to limit campus debate and discussion.”
Cohen’s depressing conclusion:
Generation Z appears to demand safety over intellectual discomfort on campus. It is too early to tell whether other students will push back against this campus shift in favor of open debate and academic freedom, but the trend is not at this moment favorable.
It sure isn’t, and I think that suits our cadre of Social Justice Warriors just fine.