Dear College Students,

It is time to grow up. I am sick and tired of hearing about how you are “offended” because someone does not see the world the same way you do. I am bored reading article after article about the college student feeling “upset” and “threatened” by someone’s differing opinion. We are the most educated generation there has ever been, yet we are also the generation that cannot deal with conflicting thoughts. Something needs to change.

Just a couple weeks ago, students at Emory University were “in pain” because another student wrote “Trump 2016” all over the sidewalk, a practice that is used to spread many other political and social messages as well. Certain students came forwards and said they felt “threatened” by this message. Sadly, instead of telling the whining students that they will encounter people with different political beliefs in the world, the President complied with their requests.

“After meeting with our students, I cannot dismiss their expression of feelings and concern as motivated only by political preference or over-sensitivity. Instead, the students with whom I spoke heard a message, not about political process or candidate choice, but instead about values regarding diversity and respect that clash with Emory’s own.” – The Washington Post

Wake up college students! We are talking about the probable Republican presidential nominee, not Hitler. As scary as a thought that Trump will probably be on the ballot this November, you cannot prove his supporters wrong by shushing them. In my opinion, those who want to stop their opponents from sharing their opinions are just as close-minded as Mr. Trump's.

We as a generation need to learn that everything we do not like cannot be contained in a closet forever. We need to face people and ideas that are different. We are going to face new beliefs and we may not always agree. That is OK. You will hear another side to an issue and gain a new understanding. You will grow and discover more about the world than you would by limiting yourself to a small four by four square of “safe” ideas.

Instead of quieting the source of your discomfort, try opening a dialogue. A dialogue that will allow you both to explore new information and thoughts that you may never have been exposed to before. The only thing that is being encouraged by not allowing one side to talk is creating a larger barrier between a nation that is built on differences. Stop that now.

It is time to grow up. We should not be the punch line of jokes. We are college educated students who should be harboring new ideas and building on old ones. We are the generation of free-thinking. Do not be the reason why we regress, be the beginning of an open dialogue. Stop being a baby.