I see so often people debating over morals or values or society. In college we are encouraged to become critical thinkers and participate in important dialogues. That being said, I’ve seen so many of these debates digress into petty discourse and radical action.

We need to change the way we argue.

Even if a person fully deserves a good old fashioned shaming, it really is probably the least effective way of igniting change.

Shaming people doesn’t change their minds about anything; they don’t suddenly fall to their knees and see the light, at best, all it does is teach them to still be racist or sexist or what-have-you, just quieter about it, which solves nothing.

To a further end, those who witness the shaming who might internally share similar views to the one being shamed often ends up still keeping their views as well, they too are just now less likely to voice their opinion verbally.

Just because someone isn’t talking about their opinions doesn’t mean that they aren’t acting on them.

The problem still exists only now it’s been pushed underground, churning beneath a façade and exhibiting itself in subtler, harder to combat ways.

Think about it, when animal rights activists pelt people wearing fur with raw eggs, does that make the person being pelted stop wearing fur?

Does it educate them in any way how their actions could be considered wrong? Do any of the people being attacked stop and take a moment to self-reflect while wiping yolk off of their purse?

No, all they think about is how infuriated they are that someone just potentially ruined their $400 outfit.

I certainly don’t have all the answers, but I firmly believe that when confronting someone with problematic ideas, it needs to come from a place where you acknowledge that they too are human like you at their core, no matter how extreme they might be, and you should approach them as such.

No one responds well to being attacked or embarrassed; doing so only fuels the fire and makes people even more irrational.

You don’t have to dumb down your own views or make them “safe” you just have to be strategic in your presentation of them.

You have to understand the person you’re arguing with and where they’re coming from, even if you don’t agree with it, and you have to have a conversation, not a cat-fight.

Repressing a person is never a good idea. All it does is allow the problem to perpetuate.

Kaycie Brauer is a senior English major. She can be reached at denopinions@gmail.com.