On so-called ' Civility Pledges ' and the abolition of free thought and free speech

I have blogged previously about the glaring problem of lack of tolerance for viewpoint diversity in occupational therapy, and unsuccessful attempts to address the concern. See here for more details. It is not a new problem in occupational therapy, and now the problem is being demonstrated again.An important agenda item has been added to the Spring Representative Assembly meeting of the American Occupational Therapy Association - to explore the creation of a ' Civility Pledge ' as follows:On its surface, most people will agree that it is important to be kind and respectful when interacting with others.  However, ' Civility Pledges ' have been introduced before in our national government, on many college campuses - and they rarely succeed in gathering much interest or respect.Why is that?Most ' Civility Pledges ' end up listing speech and behavior that goes far beyond apirational kindness - and wades into the murky territory of mandated ' guiding principles ' that people must adhere to - and are then often used as a cudgel by those who would seek to restrict heterodoxical opinions.Promoting ' Civility Pledges ' signals the constriction and death of both free speech and free thought - elements that are required in any intellectually thriving group.In 2011 there was a rather famous example of a mandatory ' Civility Pledge ' at Harvard University - roundly criticized by some faculty there including the former Dean of the College who wrote," the right to be annoying ...
Source: ABC Therapeutics Occupational Therapy Weblog - Category: Occupational Health Tags: OT Education OT practice philosophy policy Source Type: blogs