The Effects Of Trigger Warnings On Others People

Roxane Gay’s essay explores the topic of triggers and why they may not be as useful as people will like to think. Because of Gay’s topic choice, her essay is a work of non-fiction. It uses Gay’s own experiences and thoughts to educate the audience of her stance on triggers and why she thinks that. She also uses a variety of metaphors, analogies, and real life examples to persuade her audience.

As a class, we mainly fell into the category of those who would not tell a professor if they had any concerns regarding a class. The standard here with the usage of trigger warnings is how do we as a society know what actually will require a trigger warning. If no one has a standard, then the policy would be mocked for being too lackadaisical. I see trigger warnings being necessary in some situations where I would want to know if something graphic is going to be shown to me. We came across two definitions of safe spaces in the class: 1) an actual physical safe space and 2) an ideological safe space. The concern with the physical safe space is that it seems more reductive or childish, which interestingly enough is how the Baby Boomers assess our generation.

The issuing of trigger warnings, according to the American Association of Professors, can be counterproductive. “The voluntary use of trigger warnings…assume that individuals will respond negatively to certain content,” which leads to reducing students to vulnerable victims rather than full participants in class discussions or debates. Trigger warnings are thus inadequate, “reasonable accommodations should be done on individual basis” rather than exposing students to trigger warnings that might affect how they view a material that has educational value.

In this article, they view trigger warnings as a way of students avoiding issues that may cause them discomfort. Manne describes the idea of trigger warnings as a way to “flag content that depicted or discussed common causes of trauma, like military combat, child abuse, incest and sexual violence.” However, she says that the purpose of trigger warnings are slightly different at schools and universities. The warnings are meant to prepare students instead of bombarding them with possible triggering material. This way each student can learn instead of experiencing a panic attack which makes it “impossible to think straight.”

“My dog and you have the same name.” Does this sound hurtful? Did I offend you? Yes, you did offend the person and it is called microaggression. Microaggressions are hurtful statements that can inflict insult. Microaggression is an everyday action that people do without knowing it. However, sometimes comments people say do not seem like microaggression and they do not sound offensive, but they may be insulting to the person. How does an individual deal with microaggression? Microaggression is difficult to deal with depending on how you react to the statement/insult. An individual can respond to microaggression in different forms. One can respond by counting backwards from ten or ignore the comment/ insult.

Microaggressions are subtle verbal or nonverbal, intentional or unintentional insults toward a target group or person that may be unconscious or automatic (Neville, Spanierman, & Lewis, 2012). Microaggressions can be expressed in three different forms: microassault, microinsult, and microinvalidation (Neville, Spanierman, & Lewis, 2012). Microassaults are obvious racial derogations. Microassaults are mainly categorized by a violent environmental, nonverbal, or verbal occurrence that is intentionally meant to hurt someone. Microassaults can occur and be portrayed through intentional racial discrimination, avoidant behaviors, or name calling. Microassaults are explicit

The topic of trigger warnings have been a hot topic amongst people. Trigger warnings are a warning or a statement that the following material or phrases could be harmful to the psyche of certain individuals about to experience the material. This spans across the average worker to professors at universities. This topic rose from about 2011 on the internet and has reached a high to where people are discussing their thoughts on the matter. Everyone has a stance on whether trigger warnings should be issued when discussing a potential topic that could cause distress for a student or anyone in a class. With the rise of mental health disorders being diagnosed in students, some seek professional help or a better diagnosis because of there helpfulness. Students have been at odds sometimes because of trigger warnings. The debate on whether or not to implicate them in a classroom setting is the main topic of the argument.

It is important for a teacher to challenge disruptive behaviour immediately and consistently. I feel by trying to make lessons enjoyable and providing work that helps students to achieve minimizes disruptive behaviour. The use of good communication by the teacher can also be a useful tool. This includes the use of the voice, phrasing, eye contact and body language. For example, using an assertive tone when making a request or physically positioning yourself near disruptive students.

As a Para, I have to take a class with our ELL students so I can interpret for them in the event they cannot understand something. Although the teacher in this specific class is a great teacher, in my opinion, his communication skills are frightening the kids. Last week the students got the results of the last test and most of the kids did not do well. His speech went on for almost twenty minutes, telling the kids how upsetting it was to have such bad scores when everything is provided to them; that they needed to pay more attention to the class and do their homework, etc.…. during this time his face turned red, and his body language became stiff. He repeated himself over and over again. It was so bad; I wanted to run out of the class

Not just triggers warning but any warning can be taking offensive. Like telling students how to block off days to do their studies, to help reduce the numbers of students that come unprepared. But a student might take offense to that thanking they are telling them they need to block off more time because they're not smart enough to do the material in a short amount of time. Talking about students that occasional use trigger warnings are not as naïve as made out to be he is showing people with sick or thin skin can be OK with words, only people with post dramatic stress disorder can be affected and it's human to engage others with empathy.

When I'm traveling and people ask about my German-sounding name, I usually say, simply, "I'm American -- we're from everywhere!" If they persist, I explain that my people spoke Yiddish, a language based on German. Still, some ask, unsatisfied, "But where are you from?"

He or she would like to know if they will get along with a teacher or will they look forward to a semester of trouble of not getting along for 16 weeks. When registering for classes it would be a lot easier if he or she had a small simple description of the teacher and the course they are about to take. Each teacher is different and how they teach the classes. Certain students learn a different way and this could be a key element to helping a student pass if they knew how the teacher taught. It could ease a student into new classes if they knew information about his or her future teacher and that they know what to expect on the first day of classes relieving stress and anxiety.

The professor is telling students on the first day of classes that he or she will understand if a student is not in class, which will cause students to take advantage of this. For example, if a student over sleeps and misses the first half of class, he or she will have an excuse for skipping the second half. This will diminish the students learning experience because discussing the readings in class is an important part of many courses as it provides students with a stronger understanding and an idea of other students’ opinions and interpretations of the piece. In addition, as Lukianoff and Haidt state, trigger warnings tell students that “life is dangerous, but adults will do everything in their power to protect you from harm, not just from strangers but from one another as well” which perfectly demonstrates how trigger warnings are acting as a security blanket to students (Lukianoff and Haidt).

In Lindsay Holmes’s article “A Quick Lesson on What Trigger Warnings Actually Do,” she states that trigger warnings are misinterpreted cautions notifying whether or not a discussion could cause emotional distress, and often are not implemented for this reason. Holmes begins by recounting when the University of Chicago announced they would not be focusing on Trigger Warnings or safe places; although the university later tells expresses that their initial statement was misinterpreted, the author uses this to open the discussion on the importance of trigger warnings.

Trigger warnings have become a very pending and current issue with many students, as they are currently included in most college syllabi. Recently many professors have been adding such announcements to the beginning of their coursework outlines, and by doing so students are given a more accurate understanding of what the curriculum entails. They can help one avoid suffering from trauma including anxiety attacks, nightmares, and PTSD attacks, but it can also be argued that they continue the bad habit of coddling that many millennials grew up with and are accused of expecting as they enter the real world. Before examining how essential these trigger warnings are, one must first understand exactly what a trigger warning is.