Does GenZ hate free speech?

By ALMA MASON

Sheridan High School Student

Editor’s Note: The Sheridan Student Column is brought to readers by Sheridan High School’s 10th grade English class, taught by Abby Williams.

My generation is a unique one. Growing up in modern times has shaped us into who we are, and given us challenges previously unfaced by other generations. Parenting practices have overall evolved to be more gentle and affirming, making us more fragile when people disagree with us.

We have grown up in a new era of technology, making us (among other things) more politically active at a younger age than ever before; and this has all happened in an increasingly divided political and social landscape, where those with differing opinions are seen as “others” and avoided.

All of these have contributed to GenZ’s negative attitude toward those who disagree with us and our willingness to shut down conversations surrounding controversial topics. We see many things as dichotomous, when they really aren’t that simple. There isn’t one straightforward solution to complex issues such as systemic racism or climate change. We need discussions between diverse thinkers in order to identify problems and come up with viable solutions.

But how can this happen when, due to our faults in understanding disagreement, we don’t allow these conversations to occur? Universities set the stage for what happens in the rest of the world, with what occurs in academia spilling over into other arenas. As explored in The Coddling of the American Mind by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt, the lack of protected free speech on college campuses, which happened just as the student body shifted from Millennials to members of GenZ, is dangerous to our society.

Regardless of the way things have gone, it isn’t too late to make it better. GenZ has the power to accomplish great things, and we’re going to have to live up to that if we want our society to continue improving rather than to collapse. The internet gives us the resources to educate ourselves on any topic of our choosing, and our political involvement and activism can be used to do good. Once we realize that a culture of censorship (whether that’s self-censorship or censorship by an institution) is harming us, we can move past it and give ourselves a chance to recover.

In regard to the political division, there is more that we agree on than that which we disagree on. Recognizing this and allowing conversations to address these issues, as well as those that are more sophisticated, will be invaluable to our future and the future of generations to come.

So no, GenZ doesn’t hate free speech. We have just inherited a society with major flaws and not been equipped with the tools to fix them. We have applied a solution that was within our wheelhouse (attempting to take away free speech) and it has failed miserably, so now we’re looking for where to go next.

Finding better solutions can be aided by those who educate us – and classrooms are the place to start. I’ve had teachers who shut down discussions due to their own beliefs in what is correct. I’ve also had teachers who encourage discussions among students in the pursuit of truth. The classrooms that are havens of free speech have been, in my experience, more productive, and have helped students to truly learn to think critically and display those thoughts in a civil manner.

The decisions my generation makes will affect every generation that comes after us – so I implore us, as well as our educators, to undo what we have done and once again encourage thoughtful, respectful discussions.

After all, we can’t make progress solving other problems until we address this one.