Readers Discretion Advised

College campuses provide an environment where people are pushed outside their comfort zones to grow and learn in all aspects of life. College campuses also bring attention to serious political and social issues. Students learn and try to understand others viewpoints which furthers their education. When young students are passionate about issues they believe, fiery discussions tend to follow. Alongside these topics there can be sensitive content brought up during conversations. Certain classes in college are geared towards learning and discussing the heavier, more difficult topics.

Trigger warnings are an example of something professors can provide to alert students of more difficult content covered throughout the course. A trigger warning is defined by Merriam Webster Dictionary (2017) as, “a statement cautioning that content (as in a text, video, or class) may be disturbing or upsetting”. College professors should include trigger warnings for any sensitive content included in a course because it helps create a special trust with the professor and other students. Professors can gain students trust by providing trigger warnings which in turn can benefit the class. Students may open up and share personal experiences for everyone to learn from. Smith (2016) quoted professor Loken from the University of Washington who said it best, “My experience is that if you give students that space and you give them that information, they absolutely rise to the occasion”. She works to include trigger warnings so her students feel safe and share within the classroom (Smith 2016). In my own personal experience I have benefited immensely from trigger warnings. I was in a class last semester that discussed domestic violence which left most students feeling emotionally drained. We appreciated our teacher providing trigger warnings because it provided us, the students, reassurance we could share personal experiences which improved my understanding on the topic and truly enhanced my education beyond what I thought was possible. Real life experiences strengthens the college education.