Skeptical of Trigger Warnings Until a Classmate's Panic Attack Changed My Mind

I used to roll my eyes at trigger warnings in college syllabi, thinking they were coddling us. Then last semester in my sociology class at UCLA, a student had a full panic attack during a lecture on campus assault stats (the professor hadn't warned us). That moment made me realize they're not about sheltering people, they're about giving folks a heads up to brace themselves. Has anyone else switched sides on this after seeing it play out?

2 comments

2 Comments

river_scott23d ago

The part where you said "a full panic attack during a lecture" hit me hard. I saw something similar happen in my psych 101 class a few years back. We were watching a documentary about natural disasters and this girl next to me just started shaking and crying out of nowhere. Nobody knew what to do, the professor just kept the video going. It was awkward and kinda scary honestly. After that I started thinking trigger warnings are just basic courtesy, not some big political statement. It takes two seconds to say "hey this might be rough for some people" and that tiny heads up can prevent someone from having a really bad day. I still roll my eyes at the super extreme stuff people put warnings on, but for heavy topics like violence or sexual assault it makes total sense now.

roberts.jordan23d ago

The professor just kept the video going while she was shaking and crying? That's seriously messed up. Completely dropped the ball there.