What is tolerance? Is it the willing acceptance of cultures, lifestyles, and beliefs different from your own? Many would say yes, that's the basic definition of tolerance. But is it still the same thing when the idea of tolerance towards homosexuals is being forced upon college students, day in and day out in an attempt to mold their moral ideals and beliefs to be what's considered "politically correct"? Of course it's not. But that's how the idea of being tolerant is being taught as this is taking place in many university classrooms all over the nation.
My freshmen English class, along with many others, has been assigned to read The Laramie Project, a play about the 1998 murder of Mathew Shepard, a gay college student in Laramie, Wyoming. The book gives a description of what happened on the night of the murder, who was involved, and the reaction of locals in the small town of Laramie. It makes you feel guilty and ignorant if you have biased opinions of feelings against homosexuality, thus making you re-think some of your deep-seeded personal beliefs. I feel that as we are taught to think for ourselves and make our own decisions, we should be able to learn about the gay lifestyle and listen to others" points of view only as we see fit and not be forced into it, especially when firm opinions on the matter have already been established. Therefore, The Laramie Project should not be assigned to college freshmen, as it's inappropriate to be taught in the classroom, an environment where a teacher's opinion holds strong influence on his or her pupils, peer pressure to conform to the beliefs of a majority has just as great of an influence, and traditional family values are at high risk of being lost.
In classrooms, teachers" beliefs and opinions on a matter hold high influence over how their students form their own beliefs and opinions on the same matter. Some would argue that this is not true and that part of a teacher's job is to teach students to think for themselves.
