About the author Zach Gottlieb is a Los Angeles high school senior and the founder of Talk With Zach, a Gen Z platform that hosts conversations about emotional well-being. After the period ended, someone floated an opinion that, if shared in the classroom, would have elicited a clanging silence. I had to wonder, if we spend our teenage years afraid we might share our thoughts in the wrong way or at the wrong moment, how is this affecting a crucial ingredient in becoming an adult: the ability to think critically? Greg Lukianoff, co-author of “The Canceling of the American Mind,” believes that our “hyper-polarized society” is partly responsible for the problem. In a 2020 survey conducted by Samuel Abrams and Next Gen Politics, 60% of high school students in New York City said they wouldn’t offer their opinions in class because of concerns about how others would respond.

Source: Los Angeles Times December 18, 2023 09:02 UTC