Every single person has things they want to say, but choose not to out of fear of judgement or harm. These acts are often referred to as self-censoring, or restraint. Every small topic that we stay quiet about leads to a larger scale issue; not just in the media, but also out in the world around us.
Topics that people often stop themselves from speaking on include political opinions, social opinions, and many more. They can be large or small, but the fallout that comes as a result is big enough to scare more than just one generation, but possibly all of them due to the fact that frequently, beliefs of certain things are passed down through a family. From grandparents, to parents, to kids. Part of self-censorship is also having the ability to politely disagree with others and argue for their own thoughts without escalating an issue. This can be difficult depending on what kind of people a person grew up with or around.
“… I’ve found a declining degree of the ability to actually argue forcefully yet collegially and sort of academically for alternative perspectives in the last maybe five or six years especially,” Mr. Vogel, an English and History teacher, said. “Since COVID, everybody kind of withdraws into their little camps and really can’t talk to each other. We just kind of type up angry little messages in social media under fake accounts or whatever.”
Some people are scared that they will lose friends over their opinions or thoughts, or get made fun of by peers simply because they believe something different. Even small things stop people from being honest about their feelings, and the more that people stay silent, the less variety society will have.
“I feel like I probably do it more than I should, even with my own friends, where I know me and my friends will have different political beliefs or different religious beliefs,” Adelyn Nelson (‘28) said. “… I won’t say certain things about myself and my own political beliefs because I don’t want to start an argument with them or have conflicting sides just because I hate awkwardness.”
It’s easy to lose sight of a civil debate when trying to talk to somebody with opposing beliefs, no matter what side. In that chaotic jumble of information though, it is important to remain respectful and argue with facts. If people do not support their statement with fact, then their argument is empty and they have no ground to stand on.
“If you believe in freedom of speech, then express yourself clearly and specifically, and have evidence. Don’t just fly off the handle and have some sort of emotional knee-jerk reaction,” Vogel said. “…You’ve got to know how to argue in the first place,” Vogel said. “You’ve got to understand what the terms of a debate are, what logic is.”
When exploring the reasons behind censoring, attempting to keep opinions or biases out of an argument or debate is frequently mentioned. This could be connected back to an abundance of things, but most commonly it is fear of judgement. Teenagers, whether they know it or not, are terrified of being judged by their peers. However, sometimes risking a friendship to stand up for what is right is more important than not batting-an-eye. The question is though, how can people start feeling comfortable to share their opinions?
“… if your friend says something against your political beliefs,” Nelson said. “It’s okay to say, no, this is what I believe. And it’s okay that we can have these different beliefs.”
Attempting to avoid conflict no water the situation can simply do more harm than good. Yes, wanting to resolve an issue without causing a larger blowup sounds good at the time, but the longer people avoid the situation, the worse something can get.
“I think that neutrality has benefits,” Ms. Larson, an English teacher, said. “but I think if someone’s being hurt or damaged or property is being damaged then someone needs to speak up.”
Speaking up is the hardest part of being a teenager. Standing up for yourself or others can be scary, especially when we are surrounded by hundreds of people with different opinions. Sometimes we have to face our fears of judgement to do what is truly right.
“If you see somebody who’s speaking disrespectfully of a group of people and that group of people isn’t present, you should say something because when people think they can crack jokes in the absence of others, then it’s not okay.” Larson said.
