Leeds Trinity
University in (formerly jolly old) England has taken political correctness to a
new level, hard as that is to believe. The school’s journalism department
issued a memo, obtained by
The Express, instructing
professors and lecturers to avoid various egregious offenses that could be intimidating
or unsettling to students. What are those offenses you ask? Perhaps brandishing
a firearm or using racist language? Au contraire. From the memo: “Despite our best attempts to explain assessment tasks, any lack
of clarity can generate anxiety and even discourage students from attempting
the assessment at all.” While lack of clarity can certainly be frustrating, it
shouldn’t be intimidating-- or an
excuse for not even trying. The direction actually states that professors must
be “explicit about any inexplicitness” in their assignment guidance. Yes, let’s
be clear about any unclarity, shall we? Thank you.
Lecturers are also cautioned to
avoid overusing the words “do” and “don’t.” (Particularly if they are wont to
say, “Men do have penises and women don’t, I’m guessing).
But that’s not all. Educators
are also encouraged to “write in a helpful, warm tone” and to avoid “negative
instructions.” (Even if it aids clarity)?
And, lastly, my favorite
professorial proscription: teachers are told not to use capital letters in any
written lessons or correspondence, because they could “scare” the young
scholars “into failure.”
Countless
numbers of 18-year-olds volunteered for military duty in the past. Farm kids
often drove tractors and worked with threshing machines from the age of 10 or
12. And now our best and brightest collegians are “scared” of capital letters?!
It
is instructive when a school instructs its instructors to treat its students
like sniveling, spineless incompetents.
I have instructions for the students that will
help them in the future, not
virtually guaranty that they are
losers for life: “DON’T BE SUCH
ENTITLED COWARDS. DO REALIZE HOW
BLEEPING LUCKY YOU ARE. NO ONE CAN OFFEND YOU UNLESS YOU LET THEM. OTHER
PEOPLE’S OPINIONS CAN’T POSSIBLY HURT YOU…AND MIGHT EVEN BE RIGHT. SUCK IT THE
HELL UP AND GET ON WITH YOUR LIFE SO YOU CAN BE A CONTRIBUTING MEMBER OF
SOCIETY AND NOT A PATHETIC LITTLE PARASITE.”
YOU’RE
WELCOME.
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