Half of college students fear expressing ideas in the classroom: survey

[Judi Lynn]

JENNIFER KABBANY - FIX EDITOR •SEPTEMBER 20, 2021

A little more than half of college students fear giving their opinion on social and political issues in the classroom, according to a new survey by Intelligent.com.

The survey found that the self-censorship sentiment was not only expressed by students on the right, but also on the left.

The online poll, conducted in August and recently released, surveyed 500 conservative students, 500 liberal students and 500 moderate students.

Overall, 52 percent of all college students responded that they “always” or “often” refrain from expressing views on political and social issues in classrooms out of concern for potential consequences, Intelligent.com reports.

More:
https://www.thecollegefix.com/half-of-college-students-fear-expressing-ideas-in-the-classrooms-survey/

[Hugh_Lebowski]

1. There's a lot of 'classrooms' where it's really not appropriate anyway

Nobody wants to hear your thoughts on Trump or Abortion or whatever in 2nd year Calculus.

In fact, many students literally never take a college class where it's particularly appropriate to bring up politics.

[Tetrachloride]

2. At most, 4 classes for me

Psychology 2x, Economics, Lexicography.

I “received” 1000x more in the library, video store, Netflix, the bus, jobs, convenience stores and the big one: international travel.

I believe one of my calculus students was in Kenya thereabouts this past 20 years.

[Beastly Boy]

12. The survey finds that students' reason for not sharing political opinion is "fear", not

relevance of political opinions to the subject of any particular class.

On edit: the survey finds that “Losing the respect of their classmates and professors, being ridiculed or confronted, and jeopardizing their grades are the consequences students fear most,”

[Jim__]

3. I would be curious to know if the breakdown is uniform across class level.

By class level I mean freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior.

I would hope that the percentage of students afraid to give their opinion declines by length of time in college. It is understandable if young students, especially freshmen, are somewhat afraid to sound naive or ignorant when they are new to the college environment. After a number of years of college, that fear should be dispelled.

[markie]

4. that is troubling...

what is school if not to discuss, explore, contemplate, share, etc... we are on a fast downhill spiral, it seems

[Dream Girl]

5. This is meaningless unless it's been tracked over time. Is this an increase or decrease from

How college students felt 5, 10, 30 years ago. Perhaps this 52% is at an all time low.

[Beastly Boy]

13. Half of students fearing to express opinions is troubling regardless of change over the years

[Dream Girl]

15. Maybe this has always been. Maybe it was worse in the 50s or 60s.

[mopinko]

14. yeah, i agree.

my kids are older now, about 10 yrs older than this cohort, but when they were in school teachers consistently praised them for being so ready to step up, and contribute to discussions.
i saw it myself in their classrooms. other kids were so passive, they rarely raised their hands. just kept their heads down.

we homeschooled for 8 yrs, and over and over it has been shown that well homeschooled kids are way more willing to step up in the classroom. it's why harvard loves them.

so, how this has changed over time would be very useful to know. may have more to do w our ed system than w political climate.

[eppur_se_muova]

6. Why does this smell like RWNJs looking for justification to feel "censored/cancelled" ?

Be interesting to know who funded this survey.

[Judi Lynn]

11. The link in the article leads to intelligent.com, here's the "about us" link:

https://www.intelligent.com/college-students-fear-expressing-ideas-in-classroom/

https://www.intelligent.com/about-us/

This article is connected, too, several years older:

https://www.vox.com/the-big-idea/2017/3/7/14841292/liberal-universities-conservative-faculty-sizzler-pc

[bucolic_frolic]

7. College is free expression but try climbing the academic ladder while disagreeing with Professors

It's a kiss butt career path. Over time bad ideas get amplified because they're agreed with so consistently. Innovation is lost.

[Scrivener7]

8. Well... the opinions of 18 year olds are often dopey. 60 year olds too, but maybe it's a

positive that the 18 year olds are listening more than talking.

[LiberatedUSA]

18. That could be it.

Or they could be terrified that the punishment for expressing the wrong opinion would be a good Twittering that results in loss of college, loss of job, which leads to loss of unemployment, which finally leads to dumpster diving.

All for an opinion. No court case, no sentencing. Just life ruined for an opinion. And now the habit is to go back to Grades 1-12 school days to ruin people’s lives. And we thought the teacher was joking when they said this was going on our permanent records.

[RVN VET71]

9. Maybe they just don't feel knowledgeable?

This may refer to students at least some of whom do not feel tgey can make a truly cogent comment because they are unsure if their own knowledge base.

A better question:”Are you uncomfortable asking questions?” Yes answers to that might indicate a problem with the teacher.

[cadoman]

16. until that number is 100% we are living in a state of fascism

That liberals feel unsafe in college means we're not doing enough to stand up for them, and that conservatives are even allowed to attend college, are both enormous problems.

100% of students should fear expressing a fascist thought, or associating with a fascist. We should be mindful at all times of what we're thinking and who we're around.

[Behind the Aegis]

17. Is this really surprising? Look at some of the comments in THIS very thread, much less other spaces

People are not being allowed to express ideas without being attacked, especially when those ideas do not fall within the orthodoxy of the side in which the person inhabits. The landscape changes so quickly sometimes, it is difficult to even know what the "correct" belief is for the day.