Recently there has been some major upset over UC Santa Barbara’s Senate motion to suggest that their teachers place trigger warnings in their syllabi. By doing so, the student body hopes to prepare students that are dealing with, or have dealt with abuse for content that could trigger memories of such abuse. Notice that the university is not banning all works that have to do with abuse, which would include sexual assault, domestic abuse, etc. ; it is merely asking that the teachers extend their students the courtesy of a warning. However tame and well intentioned this action may seem it has nonetheless been met with widespread backlash, from teachers, other authority figures, and most notably the LA Times. Since this upset has occurred during Sexual Assault Awareness week, I feel compelled to offer my thoughts on the matter.
In general, schools at every level need to deal with the hypocrisy that goes along with teaching about forms of abuse. I remember an incident in high school freshman Health class where we were watching a movie about drug abuse. There was a scene where a young man was high and coming at his father with a knife. A young woman stood up and begged the teacher for his permission to leave because she couldn’t take any more of it. Not only did that teacher make her sit through the rest of the movie, but afterwards he made her do pushups for asking to leave. Is this not a kind of abuse in itself?
In college you think that it would be a different story, that the students should be feel comfortable expressing discomfort. Especially when you consider that the student is paying the college for providing them with a service. However, I have spoken with a number of students who find that this is not the case. “We were watching this movie and it was just one thing after another, these poor women were systematically annihilated on every level: psychologically, socially, and physically. It was gruesome, I was sobbing the entire time, but I felt compelled to stay for my grade.” said one student, who chose to remain anonymous.
While I agree with the sentiment that sometimes it feels like colleges are implementing actions that are counterintuitive to the learning environment, I do not believe that this is one of those incidents. What those who argue against this action fail to recognize is that recovering from abuse is a process. You wouldn’t ask someone who was recovering from having both legs broken to walk up three flights of stairs or a veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder to stand in a shooting range.
Some teachers, certainly not all but some, might say that it isn’t in their job to help students work through these areas that are difficult. Maybe it isn’t in their job as a teacher, but it is their job as a mentor to be supportive, and to own up to fact that sometimes there is content that provides the opportunity for relapse.
I agree that everyone’s triggers are different, but I do think that colleges should encourage teachers to work with students that are hurt. Obviously there is the possibility that people are going to take advantage of the system, just like any other system. However, I believe that being part of a liberal arts college means that you should have the right to make educated decisions for yourself about what you are emotionally ready for, and that your college should be courteous of that.
People argue that “life doesn’t have a trigger warning”. I hate to burst your bubble, but college isn’t life. You may then say “yeah, well, it’s preparing you for life”. Then prepare people for life, help them heal. Help them through their experiences, at every stage, even at these early stages where it is more difficult.
Oberlin College has gone so far as to ban such trigger inducing books from teachers’ syllabi. While I don’t think it is necessary to go this far, I think that colleges should be conscious of how the students are responding to their curriculum. It is important to keep a healthy open dialogue between faculty and students in order to maintain a healthy learning environment. Especially in this day and age when going to college astronomically increases the opportunity for assault.
Students dealing with sexual assault or any other form of abuse, regardless of their gender, should take advantage of the GCSU Women’s Center’s counseling services.