A question that is being asked all over the country right now is “What is the purpose of education?” The purpose of free speech and the rights of students to freely express their own ideas and beliefs is likewise being questioned. Do students really need to express their own ideals and beliefs while in pursuit of their higher education, or should they them remain silent and merely listen? Why should students be allowed to express their own ideals to those giving them their education, people likely to inset their own ideas and beliefs to the minds of students? Why should students not simply conform to the ideals of their professors? Should colleges or universities be allowed to determine what books students may or may not read as happened at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis with Keith John Sampson in 2008? Do colleges and universities have the right to indoctrinate students to specific ideals and beliefs as was the case at the University of Delaware in 2007? Should students in higher education be guided to their own conclusions about current issues, or should they be given those conclusions by their professors?
There is in fact a true purpose in allowing students free speech and free expression. Denying them these freedoms lessens the quality of the education they receive, teaching students not so much how to think as what to think. In situations where this is done, it is not educating an individual but programming them as if they are machines made only to do as instructed. To deny them these freedoms in higher education is also a blatant violation of the US Constitution.
Should a student be refused the right to voice his opinions and ideas freely, that individual can never fully develop his own thoughts nor in any way influence the thoughts of another. Free speech in a class setting gives students opportunity to contest their own ideas with those of their peers, giving them a more fulfilling and satisfying education. Open debates in a class allow them to find the flaws in their own views or in those of their fellows, and this will inevitably prepare them for dealing with the world around them. Forcing a person to keep silent during their education will instill in them a shyness that will in most cases endlessly hinder them in any of their life endeavors. Similarly, they shall be unprepared for situations in which their own views when voiced become challenged by the people around them. As such, free speech is absolutely essential in all forms of higher education to prepare the students for living in the world. Not only is free speech essential to higher education, it is a basic human right.
In 2008, a student and custodian at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis(IUPUI) found his rights being attacked. For silently reading a book about the fall of the Ku Klux Klan during his work breaks, Keith John Sampson was accused of racial harassment by the affirmative action office at the university. Without a formal inquiry or any solid evidence being given, he was found guilty of racial harassment. This event was an attack on one student for his choice of reading material, a book that was not on the list of approved books at the university. This event reveals the depth and range of censorship in some colleges.
The professors in colleges and universities who try to force their own beliefs on students are not actually teaching their students, but are trying to program them. This attempt at enforcing conformity on students and trying to crush out free thought is both an abomination and counterproductive to the education of students. In situations where this is happening, students are being denied the opportunity to develop their own thoughts for the sake of indoctrination by their educators. Students who find themselves subjected to indoctrination may resist the attempt, but there those who will simply conform to escape pressure in their school environment.
In 2007, new students at the University of Delaware found themselves confronted with enforced conformity. Disguised as a student orientation program was a curriculum to indoctrinate new students to a select ideology and enforce conformity in their lives in the dormitories. This program violated the students’ right to privacy and freedom of speech, expression, and even thought. This did not encourage students to be open-minded, but was an attempt at closing their minds to any idea of personal freedom.
The answer to the question “What is the purpose of education?” is to teach individuals to think for themselves and respect those around them, not to teach them to conform to the ideals of others so as not to offend anyone. It is to teach individuals to develop their own thoughts and be ready to defend their own views and boldly question the views of others. A student should not be punished or attacked for his choice of literature on campus because it is not seen as politically correct. Students should not be silent, but speak openly and prove their understanding of what they are being taught. They should not refuse to express their own ideals and beliefs for fear of censure. Professors at colleges and universities should never attempt to indoctrinate students to their own beliefs, but encourage the students to be more open of their own and accepting of others. Should they remain silent and merely accept the ideals of their teachers, they will not learn anything.
