Trigger Warnings

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into his argument demonstrates his lack humanity or the lack of care he has for others around him. The two concepts were both created to protect people and their psyches, not made in order to tear down the structure of truth and freedom.

The actual premise for trigger warnings has seem to be forgotten especially when those are claiming threats to their freedom of speech. Students aren’t just students but humans. As humans they’ve experienced life and all it has to offer. No one is blank slate without memories and there are times when memories can haunt, preventing a normal life to continue. Without even thinking, certain material can cause a student to react. Isaac Newton said every action has a reaction. In order to control the reactions, the actions need to be managed. As student Brianne Richson stated, “Is it too much to ask that a rape survivor be forewarned when a professor is about to cover material on the topic ?” Elementary teachers are trained to deal with students with mental illness and professors are literally brawling over possible warnings about material. The confusion lies in whether those materials will be

removed from the curriculum or not, but that was never in the call to action. The real misunderstanding comes from others who believe trigger warnings suppress freedom of speech or genuinely expose the lack sympathy and oppressive ideologies. Wendy Kaminer fell into this category. In her short essay for The Atlantic, Kaminer expressed a dire need for healthy disagreement and how higher education is moving toward polite, regressive behavior, but honestly she missed the entire point of oppression.

Although oppression and trauma are technically different, they both reap the same side affects. Female students at her university complained about sexual harassment from online and telephone remarks, and demanded punishment. Her only response was “What are we teaching if we agree? That they aren’t strong enough to withstand a few puerile sexist jokes that may not even be directed at them ?” Kaminer believes women should be able to handle harassment as she believes trauma shouldn’t be dealt with. Her oppressive beliefs ignore the lasting affects of avoiding the mental pressures of suppressing emotions, which could in return create a much bugger problem than the one universities are currently faced with. Indirectly, she proves the point of needing trigger warnings so others who have dealt with trauma and may have been told to repress or even those who continue to work on bettering their mental health can feel safe in their environment without fear of a catalyst.

It’s understandable tat professors want to protect the integrity of their personal teaching methods and materials, but there has to be a moment where the safety and mental stability becomes more important than pride. Trigger warnings are necessary for universities because students have complex psyches that need just as much attention as their intelligence, and failing to understand the duality will create more problems than intended.