As much as colleges and universities have become a favored target of right-wing media, it was more than a little appalling to witness the mockery rained down on schools that dared to give students a break after the election. “Harvard and Princeton Professors Cancel Classes to Let Students ‘Recover’ from Election” was the headline on National Review. Fox News quoted a Florida Atlantic University economics professor who viewed such behavior as making “you look like an out-of-touch crazy person.” The New York Post belittled Barnard and Columbia where “lefty professors” sent “warm and fuzzy” emails to students.

Did undergraduates need to take a break, perhaps one class off, or even hear some reassurance after Donald Trump’s victory on Nov. 5? We don’t know. We weren’t in any particular classroom or campus but we certainly aren’t surprised that some young people might take the outcome seriously and even be alarmed given what came out of the former president’s mouth in recent months including, one may recall, how he planned to be a dictator on “Day One,” how U.S. war dead are “losers,” how he’ll be rounding up and deporting immigrants and how the last election was stolen despite the undeniable lack of corroborating evidence.

Too easily lost in the desire to mock the prevailing left-of-center outlook on campuses is a far more serious matter and that’s the serious mental health crisis on college campuses. Anxiety and depression have become increasingly common diagnoses — and that’s measurable only at the schools where there’s adequate access to mental health services. Researchers estimate the suicide rate among college athletes, to cite one group, has doubled over the last two decades. Should anyone be complaining when professors are attuned to added stress?

Look, we get that political conservatives think liberals are too sensitive about Trump. But who cares exactly what might be stressing out students on campus? It could just as easily be mid-terms or an especially challenging research project or figuring out exactly how they’re going to pay for the next semester or they might even be triggered by a classmate’s rejection. It’s tough enough for a youngster to be away from home and facing the rigorous academic and social challenges of school without just a little bit of empathy from adults in the room.

So lay off the kids, MAGA nation. It’s fair to mock journalists. We probably deserve it once in a while and we get to fire back. But we’ve seen college kids get classes off for the first snow of winter. What’s so wrong with giving them a one-hour break to maybe help digest the news of their country’s collective approval of a convicted felon and serial adulterer with racist tendencies? Hah, young people can be so naive.