As society increasingly gains widespread access to a variety of information, “trigger warnings” have began to appear more and more frequently before content that has the potential to be classified as “emotionally sensitive.” The purpose of a trigger warning is to alert a reader of any information that could evoke emotional discomfort, most commonly initiated by uncovering a repressed traumatic memory of a situation involving prejudice, discrimination, or violence. Trigger warnings are commonly found before graphic television broadcasts or intense articles, but more recently they have made their way into the classrooms of American universities.
Unfortunately, the absolute truth is: Life does not have a “trigger warning.”
Including warnings about course content that may evoke feelings of distress does not guard students from their emotions; rather, it guards students from reality. The addition of these aforementioned precautions at any university fails to adequately prepare students for their lives beyond college.
A post-secondary educational institution is designed to open the minds of students to new ideologies and philosophies, regardless of how uncomfortable those outlooks are. However, by notifying students in advance about potentially sensitive topics, it becomes extremely feasible for students to purposely reject opposing viewpoints or information that may conflict with their current beliefs. The inclusion of trigger warnings could allow for students to disregard topics that they hold resentment to or disagree with.
Realistically, it is very likely that the amount of students affected by sensitive course material to an extreme extent is far lower than the number of students that would ultimately be utilizing trigger warnings for less acute reasons. Instead of unintentionally permitting a biased group of students to take advantage of trigger warnings, universities should aim to encourage all students to scuffle with topics that make them feel perturbed, flustered, and discombobulated.
Frederick Douglass said it best: “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” The current and upcoming generations of college students cannot be expected to make great strides beyond graduation if they do not allow themselves to be exposed to realities that make them feel uncomfortable.
Of equal concern are the professors, given less freedom to discuss controversial topics that relate to their specialty in fear that they may upset a student. Instead of avoiding dubious topics, students should be encouraged to make their opinions cognizant in discussions during class. In the event of a policy advocating for trigger warnings, students may consequently forgo the importance of sensitive material. When students choose to overlook material that they either do not align with or lack interest in, their critical reasoning skills begin to diminish. Students must be taught to understand that they are not required to agree with and believe everything they are taught, but it should at least be considered, even if it is controversial and uncomfortable.
Finally, trigger warnings would give students an unrealistic perception of what life beyond college will be like. There will not always be a professor to warn them when life events may shake their world a little bit. If words or pictures out in public have the capacity to reawaken a person’s painful memories, there will be no warning. When a story regarding rape appears in a newspaper, there are no trigger warnings. When comments that could be regarded as “sexist” or “racist” are overheard in public places, there are no trigger warnings. When violent images are projected in art and media, there are no trigger warnings. The university that a student attends should embolden and hearten them to topics that are real issues in current society. Universities can achieve this objective by not requiring that contentious material be flagged.
Motivational speaker Larry Winget once addressed a group of college students saying, “You don’t need a safe-zone to protect your fragile ego. You need big, new, scary ideas that challenge your beliefs and expand your thinking. You need ideas that will offend your thinking. You need ideas that will offend you, hurt your feelings, stomp on your toes, and make you mad. This is necessary for growth and learning.”
It is important to have a courageous mindset in the classroom. At some point, every single person will wrestle with a topic that reminds them of a time when they were hurting tremendously. Inevitably, the hurt and pain cannot be ignored, avoided, or forgotten. Instead, it must be confronted, mended, and resolved. A tremendous part of life is learning how to overcome obstacles and push past the pain of past experiences. College students should not allow for this skill to be neglected by submitting to mandatory trigger warnings, and instead should embrace the intellectual growth that stems from exposure to sensitive material.
