By Peter/Ethel Thurston
So if you haven’t been living under a rock recently you have most likely heard the online discussion focused around safe spaces, particularly those on campuses. This is a topic that has been brought to light in both news articles and TV shows like the trending South Park episode rather simply named ‘Safe Space’. This has naturally sparked debate on the subject with much of it being geared towards the idea of the ever creeping PC police.
I disagree with this and several other claims made throughout the discussion. But to explain why we must first discuss what a safe space is. For the most part the title is self-explanatory in that it is a space that has been designated safe. By safety we are discussing a feeling of security that allows for relaxation in that one does not always need to be on ‘the alert’. Now these spaces may be constant e.g. like a gay bar or they may be periodic like an LGBT+ support group.
They may also be universal, catering to all people who need the space like a hospital or specific like group counselling for male victims of rape and domestic abuse. Now this starts me off by refuting one of the most popular myths about safe spaces off the bat. They are nothing new. Safe spaces have been around for a while now and the only reason they are entering discussion now are the advances of media with a special emphasis on student journalism.
But what do safe spaces mean for freedom of speech? Well not very much actually. A safe space is a designated area, not a personal bubble shield that follows a person around. Safe spaces may be considered a space of mutual agreement like so many others. When you enter this area you are not to go about behaviours that make others in the safe space feel at risk. Outside this space, which by the way you may exit at any time, all things are normal.
Also offence is not the same as harm. (A myth propagated by both sides.) Screaming the word ‘faggot’ next to a student LGBT+ support group (As happened recently at my university) is less like yelling fire in a theatre and more like doing it on the burn ward of a hospital. But what about journalism? Surely they should have access to these spaces 100% of the time? Well no. Safe spaces are predominantly made up of one group, victims. Victims of racism, of homophobia and transphobia. Victims of violence and sexual assault. A journalist does not have the right to have unregulated access to someone.
They also do not have the right to effectively place an individual under house arrest through denying them a safe space outside their homes. Safe spaces on campuses allow people who would otherwise be denied an education to come in and enrich their lives. It also helps them deal with the issue. Whilst anti-safe space groups would have you believe that safe-spaces are there to escape reality, nothing could be further from the truth.
First of all, safe spaces are not meant to be used 100% of the time. A student still has to go to class, to eat and walk between places. Secondly, these people seek safe spaces because they know reality very well. Returning to the counselling group, how are they escaping reality through coming together and discussing the difficulties they face? They are offering one another emotional support to heal that individual so that they can cope with what life throws at them. Safe spaces share allot in common with hospitals. Sure you’ll get ill in life and your immune system will help fight it, but that doesn’t defeat the need for a place to go when the body is overwhelmed whether physically or emotionally.
But safe spaces can be so much more. Safe space can become just another phrase for ‘base of operation’. How many movements began with a group of people meeting in a safe space, planning out how they’ll enact change and better society? Because that’s the biggest thing most people have missed, a safe space is simply a temporary measure. You cannot simply legislate tolerance into society, that takes time for social change to occur and opinions to shift. But what you can do is offer people a place where they can go, feel secure, build community and enact that very change. That is why we need safe spaces. That is why the anti-safe space rhetoric needs to stop.