Trigger Warnings Research Paper

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Finding Common Ground The real world is a traumatizing place before in the past and now. Where there is one thing, a story or a haunting memory can accompany it. Those with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are most obviously affected by this, but what triggers them? Without warning, seemingly harmless things can create a problem for those who have experienced some sort of trauma. That is why trigger warnings were created; so that these traumatic experiences do not have to be relived just from seeing what someone thinks is an innocuous image or article. Trigger warnings are defined by basically the word itself. They are warnings that are displayed on images, articles, etc. that may trigger a person into a negative emotional state. These…show more content…
In a debate about trigger warnings and their specific need for use in the classroom, Laurie Essig and Angela Shaw-Thornburg are two professors who are just looking for the best learning environment for their students, though they share different opinions on the use of trigger warnings. Essig, the author of “Trigger Warnings Trigger Me,” believes that the occurrence of trigger warnings is getting out of hand in the sense that anything can accompanied by one, including entertainment, food, and even the things people say (par. 5). Her main concern is that the need for trigger warnings by a lot of people is starting to negatively affect her and other professors’ abilities to teach, and the students’ abilities to learn. She thinks that with the harsh reality of what the world already is, people should be strong enough to handle the material being taught in the classroom. On the other hand, Shaw-Thornburg, the author of “This Is a Trigger Warning,” is a victim of the affects that come due to the absence of a trigger warning on a reading she was presented with while she was in college. She does not believe that trigger warnings are something not to be taken seriously, but that people should not be so insensitive to the need for trigger warnings because the trauma that could come without one does things to a person that is not easy to just suck it up

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