Trigger Warnings Research Paper

The Oxford dictionary defines trigger warnings as a statement at the start of a piece of writing, video, etc., that alerts the reader or viewer that a material contains potentially distressing material. Trigger warnings were originally intended for war veteran, who returned to their homes with PTSD. The use of trigger warnings has changed in the past few years because they have begun to make a big impact on college campuses. Today the use of trigger warnings in a university class is considered a controversial topic. There are many who argue that professors should be required to issue trigger warnings for their classes, however, the topic of trigger warning is ambiguous and many oppose the use of trigger warnings in a university setting.

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.

Trigger words are common-throughout anyone’s daily life. Imagine this, an elderly women loses her husband of fifty years. The man kept a four leaf clover in his pocket at all times for good luck. Did the world completely eliminate four leaf clovers from the world to accommodate her loss? No, not at all— the elderly women had to mentally prepare herself to handle the mental distress that could come. Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt in wrote an article in September of 2015 titled, “The Coddling of the American Mind.” This article covers overall mental health mostly in American college students. The students demand security from words and ideas that are uncomfortable in the learning environment. Lukianoff and Haidt cover every aspect concerning the views through the students, therapist, professors, and even the general public. There is a serious epidemic of micro-aggressions, trigger words, and an over-use of vindictive protectiveness. The two author’s ideals stated within are realistic, however, getting to the conclusion is a bit hectic and spastically placed throughout.

For example, “censoring this material is a bad idea, and providing context is the best avenue for explaining why” (Hanlon). As you can see, when certain things are not taught in our culture, it becomes a trigger warning and along the line, someone is hurting from it because our culture says “NO”. Furthermore, the purpose of trigger warnings is to have students react to stuff that will make them uncomfortable and this can help us catch problems before they become “catastrophes” (Hanlon). To sum up, our society makes it tough to present trigger warnings, therefore leaving those who are in need of help left

One article, written by Jenny Jarvie, titled “Trigger Happy: The Trigger Warning has Spread from Blogs to College Classes. Can it be Stopped?” discusses the problem with trigger warnings on college campuses. Jarvie explains that trigger warnings on the internet have been around for years as a way to prepare for potentially disturbing subjects but are now becoming more universal. Recently, a group of students at the University of California, Santa Barbara passes a resolution imploring administrators to include mandatory content warnings in potentially offensive syllabi (Jarvis, 2015). The reason for wanting the use of trigger warnings for these students is to prevent the

A controversy is rising about whether or not it is appropriate to integrate the use of trigger warnings into post-secondary environments. Trigger warnings are written or verbal indications to readers or viewers that the content they are about to encounter may contain distressing material. It stands to reason that some would object to this concept saying that trigger warnings can lead to oversensitivity in students, and hinder academic freedom. However, trigger warnings can be necessary under certain circumstances, such as students coping with past trauma or those battling mental illnesses.

Trigger statements are becoming more and more popular in syllabi, especially on college campuses. These provide students, especially those with post-traumatic stress disorder, with a warning about possibly uncomfortable content that could cause a flashback or panic attack. There are several different opinions about trigger warnings. Jenny Jarvie, the author of the article “Trigger Happy,” believes that they have gone too far and are a detriment to society (Jarvie 6). To enhance Jarvie’s point further, in their article “The Coddling of the American Mind” Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt explain how trigger warnings cause metal illness on campuses across the country. The opposing view is that they are necessary to have a fulfilling learning

It can be agreed that Lukianoff and Haidt use terms such as microaggressions and trigger warning appropriately to demonstrate how student’s have encouraged rule changes in schools, Microaggressions (slight comments or unconscious actions that may be perceived as hateful) and trigger warnings (Warning at the beginning of a piece of potentially upsetting content) are terms that have recently become commonplace in academia. Lukianoff and Haidt describe students asking their law teacher not to teach rape law which seems absurd when trying to learn a trade which highly involves that situation. Students have also asked for trigger warnings

To begin with, what is a trigger warning or content warning? Both trigger warnings and content warnings can be used in place of one another because they stand for the same thing. A trigger warning is a warning that means there is a topic or idea that will be discussed or shown visually that could cause stress to some people. These can range from reasonable topics such as rape, abuse, or death. Those topics rarely come up in day to day conversations and contain some of the worst acts a human can do, and it is reasonable to offer trigger warnings for these topics. It is not acceptable, however, to require these warnings on everyone that talks about these topics. On the other extreme some people could claim to have been offended at ordinary topics that show up in daily conversation. A short story in Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt’s paper was about a professor, Francis Schmidt, that had received a suspension from a harmless action. This action was that he posted a picture of his daughter on Facebook, who happened to be wearing a shirt with a Game of Thrones quote. A student took this as a threat and complained to the school, how is a trigger warning supposed to be put on that? This is

Lindsay Holmes’s “A Quick Lesson On What Trigger Warnings Actually Do” is a persuasive piece written in response to the backlash that The University of Chicago received against implementing trigger warnings for their students. Likewise, Holmes sets up her argument in the hopes of persuading the general population the importance of creating safe zones and use trigger warnings for those who need them. In order to do this, Holmes uses a series of rhetorical devices throughout her essay to develop her argument for the use of trigger warnings. Holmes achieves her goal of persuading the audience that trigger warnings should be taken into consideration through her intentional use of rhetorical appeals, anticipated objections, and hypophoras in this essay.

College is usually thought of as a place where students become young adults preparing to go off on their own into the big world but, now college is a place where every choice is modified with a trigger warning to protect each student from harm .Trigger warnings are alerts professors are told to give their students if the content of the course will cause a strong emotional response. Sounds simple and effective right? Maybe so simple that students make everything a microaggresion. Microagressions are small actions or word choices that seem on their face to have malicious intent but, that are thought of as a kind of violence nonetheless. Is college becoming a place where young adults are still treated as children in fear that a student may

Trigger warnings, these two words are more often than not, associated with the internet, or any type of online media, but lately it has been bustling its way into reality. To put more on your plate, specifically college life is where the spotlight is at, and the professors are not too short from the issue with these warnings. Professors should not include trigger warnings for potentially challenging material in their classes on the grounds that it will only keep students from preparing how to deal with such situations in and out of the classroom. It is part of the learning experience in college.

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.

Many students may have psychological drawbacks with certain material presented, introducing trigger warnings would help reduce the side effects of it by allowing students to decide on their own if they are ready to face, what could be, a sensitive topic for them. As some students have experienced events that have marked their lives, it is important to inform them of possible trigger content to minimize the chances of having an emotional breakdown. In her article, “Literature and Life,” Rebeca Mead mentions a student, victim of rape, who “had been shocked when a teacher showed a movie in class which depicted rape” without having been informed of the content. The fact that the student was shocked by the material is evidence that there are topics

Trigger warnings cannot affect a student’s learning experience; the student affects their own learning experience by making their own choice(s). First, several students construe trigger warnings as an excuse to not learn vital material, thus negatively affect their learning experience. Second, other students construe trigger warnings as an actual warning served to students that encountered an egregious experience and those students who did not encounter an inimical experience will learn new material and have a good learning experience.