Trigger Warnings in Classrooms

Recently there has been a lot of debate on the topic of trigger warnings. I personally have seen trigger warnings being mentioned more frequently on social media websites and even more noticeably in the classroom. Communication classes at the U occasionally engage in intense subject matter that may be difficult for some students especially if the material is related to a trauma they have had to deal with. "The purpose of trigger warnings is not to cause students to avoid traumatic content, but to prepare them for it, and in extreme circumstances to provide alternate modes of learning." (Lockhart 67) That statement is a very important distinction at the collegiate level and occasionally at the high school level. College is the arena where students can challenge themselves and each other on a vast number of topics and sometimes that calls for sensitive material. However, the degree to which they are used and how much they disclose is important to navigate effectively to allow for learning to actually happen. 

My senior year of high school I took AP English at my small town high school and one of the books that we were required to read for class was The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. Before we began reading it my teacher at the time told us "I'm not going to tell you what happens but be prepared there is some graphic content." The book goes on to describe the rape of a young boy and has a scene of an attempted suicide. The material was incredibly intense but the writing and the way it was presented was incredibly impactful and it allowed for high school seniors to engage in serious discussions about those topics. There are a few parents every year who are angry about their student having to read The Kite Runner. However, none of the students complained about it and instead appreciated being able to use the classroom to engage with heavy material. As Lockhart says "when shock is employed by faculty members, I would expect them to accept the possibility or even likelihood that some students will be angry and object to this pedagogic approach." (Lockhart 62) That statement is completely reasonable, but given a "heads up" most students will engage with the material and not be angry about the way in which it was presented.

What my high school teacher said wasn't exactly a trigger warning. Her statement gave no indication of what kind of graphic content we would be dealing with and while in a small town no one had much experience with sexual assault. There were students in my class that had dealt with suicide at some degree and the material could have triggered them, but because she gave the heads up it prepared students to deal with intense material that is crucial to be exposed to. By not explicitly giving a warning on what the graphic content was it allowed for the text to be read and interpreted in the way it was meant to be. Trigger warnings should be given in college classrooms but they should do so without compromising the way in which students perceive the material. Most importantly all of them should have the simple stipulation of allowing students the right to leave the classroom without punishment. 

Sources: 

Lockhart, Eleanor Amaranth. “First Amendment Studies.” Taylor and Francis Online,          www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/21689725.2016.1232623?needAccess=true.