A safe space is any marked place on a college campus where there is no bias, criticism, or conflict of any kind. Most college campuses across America have guaranteed safe spaces where students can congregate and shield themselves from controversial topics or opinions differing from their own.

Not only do safe spaces limit one's freedom of speech, but they also prevent young adults from expanding their knowledge and developing new perspectives. The formation of safe spaces comes from a good place, but their exclusiveness and parochialism have created the opposite effect of what was intended.

I first heard about safe spaces from my brother during his first year of college. Out of general curiosity, he attempted to enter a safe space but was told he was not welcome because he was a male; the women in the safe space told him they felt threatened by his presence. To exclude someone from a congregation because of their gender is not only sexist and bigoted, but it also prevents any sort of diversity of people and ideas from entering the group.

You will not find safe spaces outside of college. Whether you work at a restaurant, office, hospital, or a firm, it is very unlikely that you will find a marked area where you can block out the rest of your surroundings. You will be forced to deal with all kinds of people who come from all kinds of backgrounds and ideologies, and if that is not something you can handle, then there is no other way you can function in any kind of society.

That being said, I do not think that our society should have any place for bias, intolerance, hatred, or bigotry. But claiming an area of space as a place for no conflict or criticism of any kind leads people to generalize groups and create a barrier between themselves and another individual without getting to know them first.

Not only does this prevent one from growing as an individual, but it generates prejudice, and that is something that our society definitely does not need more of.