How Trigger Warnings Are Affecting College Campuses
And The Younger Generation
In the essay “The Coddling of The American Mind,” the authors Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt examine the rise of speech restrictions on college campuses across the U.S, including the demand for trigger warnings on some topics that might seem to negatively affect students who suffer from trauma. Some topics can bring back negative memories for students which may affect their mental health. Also in the essay, the authors state that it is beneficial to have discussions around crucial subjects because it prepares students for the “real world” where they will have to face challenging and uncomfortable situations. I personally agree that it’s important for students to discuss hard topics as they get older because they will not always be protected by trigger warnings, and able to avoid uncomfortable topics or situations outside of school. However, I also agree with the fact that teachers should be conscious when discussing difficult topics because for some students it brings back trauma. I will be discussing how I agree that these harsh topics affect some students negatively, and why I also agree that there should be hard topics discussed in class because it’s affecting college campuses, myself as a college student, and how the younger generations are learning.
In their essay, Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt discuss how students all across the country are demanding trigger warnings when having discussions and classes around difficult topics, and also demanding trigger warnings on pieces of literature. “Trigger warnings are alerts that professors are expected to issue if something in a course might cause a strong emotional response. For example, some students have called for that Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart describes racial violence and that F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Greatest Gatsby portrays misogyny and physical abuse, so that students who have been previously victimized by racism or domestic violence can choose to avoid these works, which they believe might ‘trigger’ a recurrence of past trauma.” (Lukianoff and Haidt. Pg 231). I agree with this piece of evidence that teachers should give some warning when they’re planning to discuss topics that can possibly be triggering in their class, so their students can prepare or choose not to participate in discussions that trigger their trauma. However, I disagree with the fact that they should never be discussed in class. Students should challenge themselves by having difficult discussions because they won’t be able to avoid difficult topics when they’re in the working field.
Although I do agree with the fact that teachers need to be cautious when discussing hard topics, I also agree with the fact that students should be able to discuss subjects that might make them uncomfortable. In life, we aren’t always going to be able to just walk away from certain things that make us uncomfortable, and we must build the skills to deal with uncomfortable topics. The saying “sometimes you have to do things you don’t want to do” is true, and it’s unfair if that phrase only applies to certain people.
Throughout my time in high school, my teachers were very conscious and understanding when it came to difficult topics for certain students because they were aware it could possibly bring back trauma for certain students. I remember having discussions in classes throughout all four years of high school in my history and social studies classes, each of my teachers making it very clear when we would be discussing a difficult topic. They always made sure that students were aware that if the topic being discussed brought back trauma or unwanted memories, that we were allowed to step out of the classroom and come back when we were ready. After seeing my teachers be so cautious about these possibly triggering subjects, I have also learned to be careful when discussing these topics. Although it is good to be cautious when discussing these topics, I feel like it made myself and other classmates worried to speak up and give our opinion in class discussions because we were afraid of offending someone or saying the “wrong thing.” It got to the point where in my senior year, I barely ever spoke up in class discussions because I was too afraid I was going to offend someone and then my grade would be affected by what I thought, even though my teachers always said, “there’s no right or wrong answer, just state your opinion.”
Students who are demanding trigger warnings and for certain books to be banned are not only negatively affecting themselves, but also students who don’t suffer from PTSD or other psychological disorders. A strong quote to support this is, “the extensive use of trigger warnings may also foster unhealthy mental habits in the vastly larger group of students who do not suffer from PTSD or other anxiety disorders.” (Lukianoff and Haidt. Pg 238). This relates to my point above about my personal experience because it states how trigger warnings encourage students and teachers to believe that there’s something wrong with discussing difficult topics in history, and like I stated above, once I got to my senior year in high school, I just stopped speaking up in discussions because I was too afraid what I was going to say would hurt someone. I remember in one of my discussions in AP Human Geography my senior year, I just sat there silent the whole time because I wasn’t sure what the right thing to say was. These trigger warnings do encourage me to participate less in class discussions.
There is, however, a deeper problem with trigger warnings. “According to the most-basic tenets of psychology, the very idea of helping people with anxiety disorders avoid the things they fear is misguided. A person who is trapped in an elevator during a power outage may panic and think she is going to die. That frightening experience can change neural connections in her amygdala, leading to an elevator phobia. If you want this woman to retain her fear for life, you should help her avoid elevators.” (Lukianoff and Haidt. Pg 238). This section in the essay of “The Coddling of the American Mind” clearly shows how avoiding your fears in life can cause negative psychological effects. In order for people to get over their fears or discomfort, they need to face them to realize everything will be okay. Of course, there’s some situations that are really traumatic, but if you never face your fears you’ll never get over them. If everyone avoided difficult or uncomfortable subjects in class, no one would learn, and those affected would continue to hide behind their fears. Although this is a very different situation and can’t be used to compare to others who suffer from traumatic situations, I have a fear of traveling alone. If I never travel alone, I’ll never get over my fear of traveling all by myself, but after I travel by myself, I can look back and tell myself it wasn’t as bad as it seemed.
Students who suffer from PTSD and psychological disorders are demanding trigger warnings so they can hide behind their own fears, not knowing that that is affecting them negatively, too. A strong quote to support that is, “students who call for trigger warnings may be correct that some of their peers are harboring memories of trauma that could be reactivated by course readings. But they are wrong to try to prevent such reactivations. Students with PTSD should of course get treatment, but they should not try to avoid normal life, with its many opportunities for habituation.” (Lukianoff and Haidt. Pg 238). Like I stated above, if you don’t face your fears in life you won’t be able to get over them. Of course people with PTSD should go to therapy, seek the help they need, and do what works best for them in terms of facing their trauma, but they should try not to let it affect their everyday life. There are so many opportunities they’re missing out on because they’re too afraid to face their fears.
Although I do think teachers should warn students about what they’ll be discussing in class, especially if it’s a difficult or uncomfortable topic, I also think students should be challenged to discuss more difficult topics because they’re not always going to be protected by trigger warnings. These challenging discussions are important for education because they’re slowly preparing you for the world when you’re going to have to do things you don’t want to do. A quote from the essay to support my opinion is, “universities themselves should try to raise consciousness about the need to balance freedom of speech with the need to make all students feel welcome. Talking openly about such conflicting but important values is just the sort of challenging exercise that any diverse but tolerant community must learn to do.” (Lukianoff and Haidt. Pg 242). This quote is stating that of course teachers and students should be conscious when discussing difficult topics that could affect some in a negative way, but also saying how it’s important to be able to discuss those difficult topics, and anyone should be able to learn how to do it.
In my experience, my teachers have always been understanding if a topic is too much for one student, but they always found support for that student whether it was talking to them personally or helping them seek support from a guidance counselor or therapist. From my personal experience, I agree with the author’s point that teachers and professors all throughout the U.S. in high school classrooms and college campuses, should encourage and challenge students to have difficult discussions about U.S. history, while being considerate of others’ feelings. There shouldn’t be trigger warnings for everything, since that also affects how students learn and work who don’t suffer from PTSD or other anxiety disorders. As they stated in the essay, trigger warnings are also affecting those who are comfortable discussing these topics, but are not anymore because they’re afraid to offend someone. As a current college student in the U.S., I can defend that these trigger warnings are also affecting the way I learn and affecting how I approach a class with my opinion.
Above is the essay I decided to use for my significant writing process. I chose my first essay from ENG-110, How Trigger Warnings Are Affecting Our College Campuses. I chose this essay for my significant writing process because I could tell how I improved throughout, and I also connected very closely to it because what I discussed in the essay is something I’m going through as a college student in this world. I improved my organization of the essay throughout because at first it was unorganized, so I was able to improve that and make it flow better and fit together. I talked about how trigger warnings, as discussed by Greg Lukianoff and Johnathon Haidt, are not only negatively affecting those who are trying to hide from a conversation that makes them uncomfortable, like race for example, but also affecting those who aren’t personally affected. These trigger warnings have made me afraid to speak up in class discussions because I never know if what I’m going to say will hurt someone. The trigger warnings are only teaching people to run from what they’re afraid of, instead of facing it. I chose this piece because it’s an ongoing issue on our campuses throughout the United States, and I am personally affected as a current college student, making me afraid to use my voice because I’m afraid what I’m going to say will be offensive to a group of people.
