Megyn Kelly Show blasts schools over culture wars and free speech!

Media personality Megyn Kelly and her guest criticized America’s education system, saying it has perpetuated the culture war and kills students’ curiosity.

During The Megan Kelly Show on Sirius XM Wednesday, free speech author and Foundation for Individual Rights in Education President Greg Lukianoff asserted that college students should be refunded if they are not offended at least once before graduating.

“Being offended is what happens when you have your deepest beliefs challenged,” Lukianoff said. “If you make it [through] college without that happening, you should demand your money back.”

When Kelly asked Lukianoff why the First Amendment is so important, the author said free speech is actually the opposite of arrogance.

“There is a humility to being in favor of freedom of speech, which is that you always take seriously the possibility you might be wrong,” Lukianoff said. “There is an arrogance to anyone who thinks they can be the perfect censor because when you are saying, ‘I can actually eliminate discussion on this topic if I don’t like it,’ you are putting yourself in the position of the final arbiter of truth.”

Kelly and Lukianoff discussed the recent controversy surrounding the profanity-laced rant of Ferris State University professor Barry Mehler, saying his comments, while vulgar, were in line with the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that says offensive material falls under free speech.

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The unlisted video uploaded to Mehler’s YouTube account on Jan. 9 shows him telling students he is almost 75 years old and “old enough to be your grandpa.” He talks about in-person attendance to his class and tells students they “are vectors of disease” to him.

Kelly claimed that Mehler’s rant preceded his showing of a Deadwood movie clip that was intended to show students how similar material could be changed while giving credit in order to avoid plagiarism.

Mehler was placed on administrative leave last week.

Lukianoff noted that students were once the best proponents of free speech but that there was a drastic shift in students’ thinking nearly a decade ago, due in part to social media but also a lack of free play in childhood.

“Free play is when you learn how to interact with each other,” Lukianoff said. “That’s how you learn to take a joke. That’s how you get over yourself to a degree. [Parents] schedule their kids from 6 in the morning until they go to bed at night. That is bad for you.”

The author added that today’s culture war that seeks to censor dissenting opinions is only further polarizing society.

“It will lead people to talk to only people they agree with, and when that starts happening, you start spiraling off into crazy land, and this happens on the Right and the Left, as we’ve seen. It is really good to know what people think so you know the world as it is.”

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Lukianoff said that challenges and situations that require mental toughness are symbolic of a democratic society that allows for a free exchange of ideas.