I was raised in a home where I was free and even encouraged to test limits, ask questions, and speak my mind. As I have gone through my short nineteen years of life, I have seen many things change: laws, societal norms, religion, the government as a whole, etc. I am disappointed to say that for the most part, things have taken a turn for the worst.

In America, we have a completely broken, two-party system. Each side consists of extremists that make bad names for the rest of us, but each side also says/does things that they ridicule the other party for. We have come to a point where we can’t even begin to have educated discussions about politics or real issues because we are so blinded by our own stubbornness. We are also so concerned with being “politically correct,” that we cannot truly address anything.

The biggest problem our generation has (in my opinion) is that we are too easily offended. Instead of listening and trying to understand other beliefs, opinions, and perspectives, we quickly run away or aggressively react to situations/topics. If we are uncomfortable talking about something like race or sexuality, we just avoid it all together or judge based off of something we read in a book somewhere one time. That is a horrible way to operate.

Fox News recently reported on a letter sent to the University of Chicago’s class of 2020. In this letter, the university basically stated that they were not going to enable students to be close-minded by creating “safe spaces” for them. The article talked about the reason behind the new rules, and said if a school is going to pride themselves on being a place where students have freedom of inquiry and expression, it needs to be a place where people can come in and talk about controversial topics, rather than a place where people can “retreat from ideas and perspectives at odds with their own.”

"Famed Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz has a message for hypersensitive, modern college students: 'If you need a safe space, stay home.'"

To be blunt about it, we as a whole need to stop being so quickly offended and start being more open. We should be just as concerned with knowing and understanding both sides of an argument as we are with other people being respectful of us as individuals. Instead of running away from controversial and even uncomfortable topics, we should be making an honest effort to become educated about what is being said from each perspective, not only to be more respectful of others, but also to learn and to be able to actually make sound choices.

I am a conservative millennial, which has a lot to do with the way I think. I am proud of where I come from, and in a lot of ways I am proud of my generation; we are innovators, we are more educated than any generation before us, and we have so much potential to do an incredible amount of good, but I am disappointed that we have become so self-absorbed. Yes, that is a generalization, and it is not 100% accurate, but it is something that even I, myself, am guilty of. We were all raised differently. We have different personalities, beliefs, backgrounds, cultures and everything else, but we are all people. We all have rights, and we all deserve to be listened to, heard, and respected. Due to this fact, I believe that safe spaces are unnecessary. The world itself, especially this country, which prides itself on freedom, liberty, and equality, should be a safe space; space where people can voice their opinions, practice their religion, express their culture and do whatever else they desire (within the law). We shouldn’t need special “havens” for a lack of a better word, where we can escape things just because we don’t agree with them.