Trigger Warnings
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“Trigger warnings” are alerts when there are sensitive topics approaching the learning resources used in a course. The argument made for it’s destruction claims it takes away the very essence of a diverse classroom, forcing students into a homogenous thinking pattern. From an outside perspective, there are grounds to its validity. There shouldn’t be a stifling in education because a topic is uncomfortable. Talking about racism in classroom full white students, while people of color barely reach the quota would make that particular topic uncomfortable. Even so, it’s important and valid enough to be discussed. Avoiding the problems of everyday life doesn’t help create leaders, especially when the classroom is the place where solutions are found. Unfortunately, this argument wasn’t made. The professors used as sources for why “trigger warnings” were holding back the principles of educating had incredibly selfish and asinine reasons for it’s elimination. Concerns for personal freedoms and control brought the well being of he students to wayside when the students mental health should be in the forefront of an educators’ mind. Trigger warnings are necessary for accommodating the different psychological issues of each student, and ignoring the mindsets of students puts the entire population at the university in danger.
The school under scrutiny for trigger warnings came from the University of California, Santa Barbara, but their ideals of safety aren’t threatening anyone but head male figures who believe in the containment of their tenures. The New York Times expose on The Literary Canon makes comments on the prevailing issues at the University of California, Santa Barbara stating its past problems with a triggering sense of fear. A group of anti-abortion protesters held up graphic pictures of aborted fetuses and a pregnant professor reacted in a furry. This reaction of terror and fear should have come from a mutual compromising position but ended with the pregnant professor being arrested for charges related . The president silenced the professor by not speaking up about such an event proving the disdain of
power male figures at the school. This was a legitimate opportunity to showcase the dangers of not managing vocal controversial ideas.
This isn’t a gender related issue but the majority of faculty who spoke against the idea of triggering were male professors worried about tenure instead the sanity of the students their supposed to care about . Yes, educators should care about their job security but suggesting students were intentionally trying to make the lives of professors’ harder by simply asking for peace of mind is ridiculous. This isn’t just male professors but male students as well. Jon Overton, student from University of Iowa, compared trigger warnings to hate speech, saying it brings of the same problems. First, comparing informing students on shocking material isn’t the same as arresting someone for spewing racial slurs. Secondly, the fact that he associated those two so quickly