"One of the benefits of having been right-of-center in college was that my political and philosophical views were constantly challenged."

"There was no 'safe space' � and I was better for it. I often felt that I received a better education than many of my peers precisely because I was not able to hold unchallenged assumptions or adopt unquestioned premises."

"Think of the safe space as the live-action version of the better-known trigger warning..."

"The room was equipped with cookies, coloring books, bubbles, Play-Doh, calming music, pillows, blankets and a video of frolicking puppies, as well as students and staff members trained to deal with trauma."

Judith Shulevitz � in a NYT op-ed titled "In College and Hiding From Scary Ideas" � describes a room set up by students at Brown University in response to the news that a libertarian would be debating with a feminist about sexual assault on campus.

Much as I think students should be challenged to think about difficult matters and not babied, I would like to give some credit to the students who came up with that particular safe room, going to such an extreme with the Play-Doh and all. It shows some sense of humor and light-heartedness. Actually, it could be read as making fun of the trigger-warning mentality.

This got me thinking about my favorite poem:

To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee,�   
One clover, and a bee,   
And revery.   
The revery alone will do   
If bees are few.

I'm thinking: The Play-Doh alone will do....

Related: "Grownups Pay Big Bucks to Attend NYC 'Adult Preschool.'"