First, let’s take a look at what a trigger warning is. According to Urbandictionary.com, a trigger warning is a phrase posted at the beginning of posts, articles or blogs, that signals that the following content may be offensive or upsetting. Sounds reasonable, right? After all, similar warnings exist in broadcast media, such as on news broadcasts if they are about to show upsetting footage.
It’s also not dissimilar to the rating system, which informs consumers and audiences about media content. Someone who is upset by violence can choose not to watch a film that is rated MA 15+ and advises that it contains violence. Similarly, in class today, our lecturer warned us that a video he was about to show touched on suicide and mental illness, and that we could choose to leave the room and not watch the video if we might find it upsetting.
All of this seems perfectly reasonable, right? Then why have these ‘trigger warnings’ caused so many people to take up arms? The example phrase on urbandictionary.com is undeniably bitter: “Trigger warning: If you think this phrase needs to be posted before politically incorrect opinions, you don’t belong on the internets.”
It’s tempting to comment on the validity of the opinion of someone who refers to the Internet as ‘the internets’, but instead, let’s take a closer look at why people are so upset. A recent occurrence in American universities and colleges has been the attempt to get it of anything that may cause offence, ranging from banning certain phrases, to literature. Students are even demanding trigger warnings for F Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby because it contains misogyny and physical abuse.
However, as G Lukianoff and J Haidt from The Atlantic purport: “ According to the most-basic tenets of psychology, the very idea of helping people with anxiety disorders avoid the things they fear is misguided.” They argue that it is good for students with PTSD to gain exposure to these negative associations, especially in safe places such as classroom discussions.
As somebody fortunate enough to have not suffered any significant traumatic experiences, I can’t really give an opinion on whether trigger warnings are necessary or not. But, for what it’s worth, I do believe that it’s impossible and unethical to try and remove and ban all things that have a chance of offending someone. We do not live in an offense-free world, and part of life is to learn to live with this fact.
Sources:
Lukianoff, G, Haidt, J. ‘The Coddling of the American Mind.’ (2015) The Atlantic. Link