I don't believe in "safe spaces" and other white nonsense being necessary for the classroom. In my academic work with PoC (and as one) and especially with WoC, we discuss how the safe space stuff thrown around is really just a way to make white students feel comfortable and not threatened by anything that could upset…

Have you or a loved one had this type of meltdown due to being exposed to literature in a high-level academic setting?

but if you add rape warnings, what about people with other traumas? where does it end? i'm sorry for your trauma but i don't think it's up to the world to adapt to protect people from difficult subjects, especially adults who are in college to get a well-rounded education that can and should include difficult topics.…

But if everyone bases their education solely around topics that make them comfortable, we're going to run into problems real quick. I think its legitimate to engage with a traumatic topic cautiously, but once you allow students to dictate the parameters of their own education you get things like white students…

I work in a newsroom and in academia.

but this feels like an extension of special snowflake syndrome has merged with some of the worst parts of the social justice movement.

No. I'm not going to change my reading list to address your special needs, because I have another student who was in the Iraq war, and has different triggers, and another student who has an eating disorder and has different triggers. I have over 100 students. I cannot be guardian for all of their mental health…

As an adult, you can structure your life as you please.

I think they should have to read it.

But you can find a trigger just walking down the street. It is an ineffective way of dealing with it and could result in certain topics/books/movies/themes no longer being explored.

My concern is that the world will not present itself with trigger warnings. And triggers aren't always evident, as I know personally.

I can't imagine an English Lit class where there wouldn't be a TW every single class, unless it's all Oprah and Khalil Gibran.

Frankly, I think that if you're a college-going adult man or woman, and you need a trigger warning for objectionable material in your coursework, you should seek an alternate path in life.

I'm sorry, but in my humble opinion trigger warnings are just another iteration of political correctness run amok. Everybody wants to be babied and protected from offense at all times. Grow a spine, people. (mind you, this is coming from a bleeding heart liberal with PTSD out the wazoo) Nobody is truly triggered…

My best assessment: having to classify the offensive nature of the material into some simplified category denies the variation and complexity of any work. It makes the book/movie/play ONLY about that thing, instead of a work of art on its own. So Things Fall Apart is not a novel of Nigeria, but a trigger…

"Trigger warnings allow people to elect whether they do watch/read/consume/etc." But being at a university is not really like being at the movie theater or the supermarket. The consumption-based model of education is a terrible idea.

Good article, Tracy!

I don't have any desire to insult the kids making these requests; good on them for being secure about acknowledging they have issues, and wanting to be warned that different topics of education may trigger their issues, for all the reasons you mention.

College is about challenging yourself intellectually and maturing as a young adult. Sheltering yourself completely defeats the purpose of higher education. Trigger warnings for graphic, detailed sexual assault descriptions are one thing but Trigger Warning: The Great Gatsby contains elements of gore. What?!

The real problem as I see it is that it's much easier for students to demand trigger warnings from professors than it is for them to demand that college administrations do more to address the issues of sexism, sexual assault, racism, and gender discrimination on campuses. As a college instructor, I too chafe at the…