Trigger warnings avert trauma: Opposing view

From music to movies, content and trigger warnings are everywhere. We accept them as a societal standard. But dare to ask for them, and people feel threatened.

Trigger warnings in the classroom don't censor material. Neither are they an excuse to avoid challenging subjects; instead, they offer students with post-traumatic stress disorder control over the situation so that they can interact with difficult material. They don't protect "fragile personal sensibilities" or remove offensive content. They recognize and validate a real mental issue.

Rarely does one not know the subject of a business meeting or the themes of a movie playing in theaters. In a classroom, however, professors screen independent films or self-made documentaries with no public information available. Like movie ratings, trigger warnings can make a world of difference.

If students are suddenly confronted by material that makes them ill, black out or react violently, they are effectively prevented from learning. If their reaction happens in the classroom, they've halted the learning environment. No professor is going to teach over the rape victim who stumbles out in hysterics or the veteran who drops under a chair shouting.

Furthermore, seeing these reactions will leave other students shaken and hesitant to engage. With a trigger warning, a student can prepare to deal with the content.

UC Santa Barbara's Associated Students Senate is working to recognize sufferers of PTSD and recent trauma. It recently passed a resolution encouraging the creation of a policy instructing professors to add trigger warnings to class syllabi. Ideally, the professors would not penalize a student for leaving, though students are still responsible for the material. The resolution included a list of 10 triggers and tailors the warnings to in-class content.

When survivors say trigger warnings give them a sense of control and help them heal, the unaffected population must listen. Professors are expected to accommodate students with physical disabilities. Why then, when PTSD is a recognized disability, do we not do everything we can to help?

Bailey Loverin, a second-year literature major at UC Santa Barbara, is the student sponsor and co-author of a resolution supporting trigger warnings.