Wesley C. Laguerre
Dr. Stacey L. DiLiberto
ENC 1101: Freshman Composition 1
21 September 2018
I’M TRIGGERED
Is a common joke used by many in meme culture to represent the Feminist movement, but to those in the movement may consider this to be disrespectful or hate speech. This oversensitivity extends to college campuses from their policing of educational content or the interactions between students, staff and other students. Censorship is never good, “protecting” students from unpleasant words and ideas is detrimental to the student as they may dismiss ideas that don't hit home with them resulting in them essentially directing their own educational experiences, like training a medical student to be the surgeon that is afraid of blood. This idea restricts the ability of the professors to teach as personal as they can, if not their curriculum can hinge on the sensibilities of their ever-changing students. We need to figure out the cause of this overprotective atmosphere, how it affects the college system, effective strategies for resolving these issues and my personal opinions on the topic.
According to “The Coddling of the American Mind,” by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt, these educational organization that were hailed for their ability to express diverse and unique ideas are distorted as many have become “safe spaces” places where students are shielded from “microaggressions” and “trigger warnings” anything that may make them uncomfortable or remind them of past bad experiences. Just because “severe emotional reactions triggered by course material are a signal that students need to prioritize their mental health and obtain an evidence based, cognitive and behavioral therapies that will help them overcome PTSD”. according to Psychology Today. So, a curriculum based around avoiding triggers is not helpful because it will make PTSD survivors wary of all occasion where they can be affected by everything around them instead of treating their triggers. You should be able to draw your own conclusions on a topic because a trigger warning inherently holds a negative connotation, and every individual cannot be properly organized into two unique groups full of the people for or against an idea or action. Trigger warnings force you to form an opinion of the subject at hand instead of viewing it objectively instead of forcing an ideology on you thereby privatizing learning so everyone has the same experiences even though a trigger may be personal how we take it into account can affect the whole of a group no matter if they ...
