[This story was updated on June 19, 2024 to make minor grammatical corrections.]

In this day and age of Political Correctness, or PC, there is a trend of people either not talking about beliefs, or screaming from the rooftops that their belief is correct and any differing belief is wrong! Neither of these options contributes to a healthy, thriving society.

Until this new era of cancel culture, we were free to discuss, argue, and joke about things we think and believe without fear of losing a friend, losing a job, or being labeled anti-mainstream. Evelyn Beatrice Hall summarized Voltaire’s viewpoint in her famous quote, “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

It is important that we are able to talk freely about the important news of the day with an open mind and clear thoughts. From our student body here at Lake-Sumter, Ethan H. says about cancel culture, “I find it funny but stupid”; and Brian S. has this to say, “It started with good intentions, but through mob mentality became ill-willed.” The NY Times collected responses from teens around the country about what they thought of cancel culture; Javier A. has this to say, “I think cancel culture is primitive and closed-minded…[I] think of old religious groups who would execute members of other religions. It’s such a poor way to handle things…it creates a lack of respect or understanding.”

Here in America, we are blessed to have the First Amendment to our US Constitution; protecting not only our right to free speech, but also freedom of religion, freedom to peacefully assemble, and the right to petition our government when we feel they are not performing their job effectively. With this being a presidential election year, there is a potential for feelings and reactions to rage out of control. We will all benefit from everyone taking a deep collective breath, and slowly counting to five before speaking, especially if you feel triggered about something that has been said.

There is no right or wrong side; we are all residents of planet Earth, all human, and all in this life together. Even with strong feelings about what policies have demonstrated data for working or failing over the years, it is not okay to try and convince someone else that they are wrong if they disagree. The best way to handle a dispute is to listen to each other with an open mind, think about the information and how it fits with your current beliefs, and trust yourself if you come up with questions or a way to integrate the new information.

As Albert Einstein said, “Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think.” In college, we learn to think and reason and freely debate ideas with one another and hopefully, our professors. The fertile ground of higher education has the potential to grow ideas and expand minds of all ages.

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