Adrianna Buzzell
Students should be able to walk to their classes without fear that they will be looped into a debate.
The modern approach to on-campus debates has recently been to table and create pressure for students to interact with a given cause. This pressure does not encourage a healthy debate amongst the population, but rather one filled with spite and loathing and cancellation threats. Students are yelled at or called out from multiple directions and told to participate in an argument. With an uptake in social media activism and fear-mongering, pressure to share your opinions now has been greater than ever before.
According to YikYak, 93 out of 125 students at Clemson said that they have been yelled at on Library Bridge by an organization tabling.
The idea seems to be that any attention is good attention, so it’s virtually impossible not to give them any attention, continue with your day and not feel as though your own ideas are under attack. All this effectively does is create a divide on campus that further separates our already polarizing world, with rage bait and attention seeking.
I am not your ideal audience. I do not want to hear your outlandish takes on topics you won’t get a say on. Opinions matter to me, obviously, as I am an opinion writer and a press member, but I share my opinions in a proper time, space and forum; you don’t.
As a student, I don’t love being berated for the ideas I may or may not have for simply walking by a group. You share your opinions in a place that you know is crowded just to create a stir. I encourage opinions from every aspect and walk of life; you want to beat them down to conform to your ideas or die trying. Students have a right to an opinion and a right not to want to engage with yours for your gain.
Let this serve as a reminder of the importance of decorum and remaining respectful. You can have a debate, you can have a fight and you can have an exchange of ideas; just do so respectfully. That means that you wait your turn, you share your thoughts, don’t target or attack, offer rebuttals, point out mistakes with gentle kindness and generally speak in a tone that doesn’t blame or reek of rage.
I have had conversations and arguments with people all over the world during my time abroad that were approached with respect. That’s the fundamental difference between the American debate styles and other ways of approaching dialogue. When I came back to America, I looked for ways to encourage polite debate as I had found a passion for it, yet there was absolutely no argument to be had that wasn’t laced with the desire to win.
A simple change in goal from winning to diversifying your opinions, finding solutions or sharing thoughts. The goal of winning creates divide and conquer; a divided house can’t stand, especially when the walls like to break its own foundation.
Expression of free speech is valuable, and promoting your thoughts or your organization is important — just do so with respect. Do not injure your cause by having little control over your own thoughts.
Sarah Bandhauer is a sophomore food science major from Brevard, North Carolina. Sarah can be reached at [email protected].