College Indoctrination: The Impact on Our Children’s Well-Being

Colleges have gone insane.

They demand exorbitant fees from students and then instill a sense of guilt.

A recent documentary titled “The Coddling of the American Mind” compellingly argues that contemporary youth are plagued by anxiety and depression largely due to the brainwashing perpetrated by “adults” in their educational institutions.

Students like Lucy Kross Wallace at Stanford illustrate this phenomenon.

“I was anxious,” she admits. “I felt constant guilt. I couldn’t stop thinking about issues surrounding white privilege.”

Kimi Katiti, a former student at The Art Institute of California, reflects, “I feel like I wasted six years of my life. When I was 18, I was brimming with self-confidence. But in college, that confidence just vanished.”

Kimi, who is black, was taught to see herself as a victim of “microaggressions” from white individuals who make remarks like, “You’re so articulate,” or “Can I touch your hair?”

“I began to view everything through the lenses of my race and gender,” Kimi reflects. “For instance, if I saw someone with a barking dog, I might interpret that as a racist microaggression.”

This new viewpoint began to influence every aspect of her life.

“To excel and secure the best grades,” she shares, “I felt compelled to emphasize my victimhood to impress my professors.”

Deep down, she believed this was unjust, yet she remained silent.

“I thought, I’m investing a lot in this education, so [they must be] imparting essential life lessons.”

She discovered the importance of suppressing conservative viewpoints. Kimi participated in a Twitter campaign advocating for the blocking of Ben Shapiro’s posts.

“I would spend nights scouring for tweets to report,” she recalls.

When Twitter didn’t comply, she attempted once more and again.

At Stanford, Lucy learned that Shapiro’s views were said to endanger “black, brown, trans, queer, and Muslim students.”

“Initially, I thought, ‘This is extreme, ridiculous,’ but then I remembered, ‘You’re privileged, you’re white.’”

A “good person,” she was taught, didn’t read too many works by white authors or enjoy the “wrong” types of music. “I was really conflicted about rap, unsure if it was cultural appropriation or appreciation.”

In a bid for acceptance, she modified her speech.

“When I adopted terms like ‘marginalized, intersectional, hegemonic, blah, blah, blah,’ people seemed to smile more, and I felt like I belonged to an in-group.”

A few years later, she realized she had erred in her ways.

“This way of thinking was toxic and left me miserable.”

Greg Lukianoff, co-author of “The Coddling of the American Mind,” asserts, “Administrators instruct students that they can be irrevocably harmed by words. Teaching this is neither kind nor compassionate.”

The new wave of censorship was aimed at aiding minorities, yet often, minorities found themselves facing repercussions as well.

In the documentary, Saeed Malami, a Nigerian student, recounts delivering a speech at a protest.

“I approached the podium, feeling confident, and proclaimed, ‘Blackness isn’t merely a skin color; it’s a mindset. A white person can embody blackness. A black person can take on any color, even purple . . .’ After that, many I considered friends just stopped communicating with me.”

Rather than assert, “I’m not a victim,” Malami chose silence.

“What I believe,” he shares, “I’ll keep to myself and articulate something else.”

This self-censorship not only hinders meaningful dialogue but also contributes to student unhappiness.

Lucy states, “During my time as a social justice advocate, I was exhausted, unhappy, and pessimistic.”

“Now that I’ve stepped away from that mindset and am thinking for myself,” Kimi observes, “I feel much happier and at peace.”

John Stossel is the author of “Give Me a Break: How I Exposed Hucksters, Cheats, and Scam Artists and Became the Scourge of the Liberal Media.”