{"id":18753,"date":"2016-09-26T08:54:43","date_gmt":"2016-09-26T12:54:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/carleton.ca\/edc\/?p=18753"},"modified":"2021-08-13T10:11:34","modified_gmt":"2021-08-13T14:11:34","slug":"trigger-warnings-in-class-helpful-or-harmful","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/2016\/trigger-warnings-in-class-helpful-or-harmful\/","title":{"rendered":"Trigger warnings in class: Helpful or harmful?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Emma Brown, TLS staff writer<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to play a 911 call for you,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The police officer stood at the front of the class, delivering his guest lecture for a criminal psychology class.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomeone\u2019s breaking in,\u201d a young woman\u2019s frantic voice echoed through the class. \u201cThey\u2019re coming\u2026they\u2019re coming.\u201d<\/p>\n

The professor, Adelle Forth, shifted nervously in her seat. She wasn\u2019t aware that her guest would be playing this.<\/p>\n

The tape continued: the young woman was raped while crying out for help. Forth sat in shock. Two students got up and left.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was appalled,\u201d Forth said.<\/p>\n

This incident happened in her early days of teaching in the 1990s.\u00a0\u201cI learnt my lesson,\u201d she said. <\/span><\/p>\n

Now she warns students when material covered in class will be disturbing or traumatic. <\/span><\/p>\n

Recently, there has been debate around the use of trigger warnings in academia. Trigger warnings are alerts to notify victims of sexual assault or other traumas that the material about to be presented could elicit a strong emotional response and\/or memories of their trauma. The warnings give students the opportunity to leave class if they do not want to be exposed to the material. <\/span><\/p>\n

Forth includes a general warning in her course outlines to inform students they will be studying \u201ccases that may be upsetting.\u201d She also warns students the week before they discuss cases to which someone in class may have a personal connection (i.e. one student was Russell Williams\u2019 neighbour). <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI do think we have to be very sensitive to people\u2019s history,\u201d she said. <\/span><\/p>\n

Ron Saunders, a professor of criminal law, doesn\u2019t explicitly warn students but he does include the topics on the syllabus so they are aware of what will be covered and can choose not to come. His courses touch on disturbing topics such as domestic violence and sexual abuse. <\/span><\/p>\n

However, he hopes that students who have been victims of these crimes would appreciate his treatment of the topics if they do come to class. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCertainly, if they wanted to engage, I would hope that there\u2019s a sense that there\u2019s a welcoming atmosphere,\u201d he said. <\/span><\/p>\n

English literature professor Jennifer Henderson doesn\u2019t use trigger warnings. She said this is partly because the sensitive material is always encountered as writing, rather than in public spectatorship (as in a film class). <\/span><\/p>\n

In addition, she said, \u201cI don\u2019t want to tell the students what\u2019s difficult or what\u2019s challenging or what should be shocking in advance. I want them to be led by the author, by the language, by the context a novel sets up.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

The trigger warning puts a name to what happens in a novel in a way that \u201creduces or does violence\u201d to the students\u2019 experience of it, she said. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s something a bit patronizing in that, that [students] need protection or that they need advance warning about what\u2019s shocking,\u201d she said. <\/span><\/p>\n

Kenta Asakura, a professor in the School of Social Work, also doesn\u2019t use trigger warnings in class. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI explicitly encourage them to stay and become aware of the discomfort that they\u2019re experiencing\u2026 recognizing their own wounds or vulnerabilities,\u201d he said. <\/span><\/p>\n

He thinks giving students the option to leave is a missed opportunity. This is particularly important in the field of social work because clients are taught how to \u201csit with the discomfort\u201d rather than flee from it, he said. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf we ask our clients to do that kind of difficult work every day, we must do the same to demonstrate to our clients that this work is possible,\u201d he said. <\/span><\/p>\n

And so, the discussion continues. What are your thoughts on the trigger warning debate? Do you think trigger warnings have a place in academia? Complete our poll<\/a> or leave a comment below.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Emma Brown, TLS staff writer \u201cI\u2019m going to play a 911 call for you,\u201d he said. The police officer stood at the front of the class, delivering his guest lecture for a criminal psychology class. \u201cSomeone\u2019s breaking in,\u201d a young woman\u2019s frantic voice echoed through the class. \u201cThey\u2019re coming\u2026they\u2019re coming.\u201d The professor, Adelle Forth, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nTrigger warnings in class: Helpful or harmful? - Teaching and Learning Services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By Emma Brown, TLS staff writer \u201cI\u2019m going to play a 911 call for you,\u201d he said. 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