For the vast majority of Americans, November 9 only differed from the week preceding it in the lack of political ads permeating their media. For many, it was a welcome end to months upon months of hateful rhetoric and horrible slanders.
On many college campuses, however, it wasn’t the end of the campaign, but the beginning of Armaggedon or something.
At Yale University, supposedly one of the most elite institutions of higher learning in the country, an anonymous professor has decided to let students skip their midterms:
“I am getting many heartfelt notes from students who are in shock over the election returns,” the professor wrote in an email to his students, according to Yale Daily News Managing Editor Jon Victor tweeted.
“The ones I find most upsetting are those who fear, rightly or wrongly, for their own families. These students are requesting that the exam be postponed. On the other hand, I am sure that many students have sacrificed to prepare for the test …Therefore, I am making the exam optional.”
The professor told the class he would “calculate each student’s grade both with and without” the exam.
Remember when asking a professor to postpone an exam for anything short of a natural disaster was grounds to be laughed at? Ah, good times. Good times.
However, that professor’s decision was far from being the silliest example:
At Tufts University, arts and crafts were on offer. And the University of Kansas reminded students via social media of the therapy dogs available for comfort every other Wednesday.
Colleges nationwide scrambled to help students process Republican Donald Trump’s stunning election victory. They’re acknowledging that many students were up late watching results and so may not be at their sharpest in early-morning lectures. More so, they’re responding to a widespread sense of shock and despair on campuses to the victory of a candidate who offended Mexicans, Gold Star mothers, Muslims and the disabled during the course of the campaign.
[…]
“People are frustrated, people are just really sad and shocked,” said Trey Boynton, the director of multi-ethnic student affairs at the University of Michigan. “A lot of people are feeling like there has been a loss. We talked about grief today and about the loss of hope that this election would solidify the progress that was being made.”
There was a steady flow of students entering Ms. Boynton’s office Wednesday. They spent the day sprawled around the center, playing with Play-Doh and coloring in coloring books, as they sought comfort and distraction.
Play-Doh and coloring.
And they wonder why people don’t take them seriously.
In addition to the above examples, Cornell University hosted a “cry-in,” where staff provided distraught students with tissues and hot chocolate.
Of course, I think we’d all prefer people act disturbingly childlike rather than disturbingly violent — like those who are calling for the murder of people you disagree with. There are several examples of that happening.
However, both are symptoms of the same thing.
For years, progressives have sheltered children from failure or pain. Athletic events for young children no longer keep score, and everyone gets a trophy. Schools try to minimize competition and achievement because of insane theories about fostering self-esteem.
Unfortunately, you can’t shelter kids forever. At some point, something is going to invade their safe spaces and smack them upside the head. On November 9, it was dealing with the fact that Donald Trump is the president-elect of the United States.
Hot chocolate and optional midterms aren’t going to help them cope. In fact, they will set them up to suffer even more.
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