¹ū¶³“«Ć½app¹Ł·½

Table of Contents

ReasonTV Explores College Classroom ā€˜Trigger Warningsā€™ in New Video

FIRE President Greg Lukianoff makes an appearance in a new ReasonTV video that discusses  proposals at Oberlin College and the (UCSB) to require  ā€œtrigger warningsā€ on course syllabi.

Trigger warnings are statements placed at the beginning of materials to warn readers that the content may ā€œtriggerā€ a reaction to past trauma. They on message boards and blogs, but in recent years, the list of topics noted in the warnings has expandedā€”as have the places where trigger warnings are used. Now, the phenomenon has arrived at college campuses.

ReasonTV spoke with UCSB junior Bailey Loverin, who authored a resolution to mandate that professors use warnings before presenting potentially triggering material. She says, ā€œItā€™s really not anyone elseā€™s business to tell someone when they are mentally and emotionally ready to deal with things.ā€

Greg, however, expresses concern about the implications such a mandate might have for free speech. He points to a recent incident at UCSB in which a professor stole a pro-life activistā€™s display and then pushed her when the student attempted to get it back. The professorā€™s reasoning? She found the poster triggering.

ā€œItā€™s a very unfortunate part of human nature,ā€ Greg says in the video. ā€œIf you give us an excuse to shut down people with which we disagree, we are very quick to jump on that.ā€

Reasonā€™s video is posted .

Recent Articles

FIREā€™s award-winning Newsdesk covers the free speech news you need to stay informed.

Share