Claire Regina Fox is a British libertarian writer and the director the think tank the Institute of Ideas. Rowan Gray bore witness to her inspiring address to the sixth form
“Open by insulting everyone, that’s a great way to start,” Fox joked after reading out a string of derogatory statements aimed at the younger generation. She is renowned for first describing the millennial “snowflake generation” – a generation of little resilience that cannot cope with views different to their own. However, Fox stated this stereotype didn’t fit our generation. She cited the example of he individuals who attended the One Love Manchester concert just 13 days after the Manchester terror attack at an Ariana Grande concert.
“However, there is much truth to the snowflake stereotype,” Fox declared. “In American higher education students are demanding the placement of ‘trigger warnings’ on literature and studies which cause ‘psychological trauma’. Ridiculous.”
After backing up her point with several examples, Fox remarked that millennials were equating emotional trauma to physical abuse, which led student unions to campaign for the abolition of exams as they are “akin to torture”.
“This is ridiculous!” scoffed Fox. “Just take the example of Ines Alves. This young person survived the the Grenfell Tower Fire and then went on to sit her chemistry GCSE the very next morning. Amazing!”
Fox described the demand for “safe spaces” and “trigger” warnings as movement toward a censorious society, where debates (the foundation of democracy) cannot take place in the fear that they may offend someone. She also stressed the idea that someone may be attacked for using their freedom of speech, one of their civil rights. “The main weapon liberal movements, such as gay and woman’s rights, have is their freedom to challenge the status quo,” she said.
“Censorship is wrong,” Fox argued, “it would cause radical and hateful ideas to go underground and fester. I don’t believe that silencing hateful voices will stop the spread of hateful ideas. To end the spread of radical, extremist or hateful ideologies you just have to counter them with better arguments.”
Fox doesn’t believe the youth of today are so easily influenced by ideas: “If I told you to go attack someone, would you? Of course you wouldn’t. You are not part of a blindly obedient generation.
“However, ‘snowflake’ behaviour - where bad ideas are not challenged – can result in bullying. This can cause permanent damage to mental health and often continues into adulthood. ”