I got into a discussion about trigger warnings on Twitter and realized that I have something to say about this.

I have no answer to the question of whether they are a good thing or not in a general sense. This post is also not a commentary on what the proliferation of trigger warnings means about contemporary society, education, the youth of today or whatever.

I do have something to say about the basic principles and how you might address them in your teaching.

Discomfort vs. Triggers

A lot of the public debate about the issue of trigger warnings elides two very specific things: discomfort and triggers. Discomfort is normal when learning new things. You cannot avoid discomfort in your classroom. Trigger is a concept specific to PTSD. Some subjects may trigger severe psychological distress in some students.

Like the person who I responded to on Twitter, you are a good teacher who does not want to inadvertently cause distress to your students. As my interlocuter put it:

“I always treat serious issues respectfully & I would never want to force students to engage with anything distressing.”

There is something about the concept of trigger warnings that speaks to this need.

So what do you do?

The question is not “Do I need trigger warnings?” but rather “How do I ensure that I don’t (unintentionally) trigger severe psychological distress?” and “How do I communicate to my students that I am willing to make reasonable accommodations to prevent psychological distress?”

If a student is in severe psychological distress, they aren’t learning anything.

You are not trained to deal with the psychological distress nor the conditions that might make it likely. There are professionals on your campus who are, probably in student counselling services. You may want to check with them about what to advise students and to learn more about the specific issues you want to look out for.

Most students do not have PTSD

You quite reasonably do not want your students to experience distress in your classroom. The fact is that even amongst those at risk for PTSD, most do not have it, or are successfully treated. In the rare instance when a student does need accommodation, you need to know who can help you figure that out.

For example, if you are teaching about sexual and/or domestic violence, there is a very good chance that at least one of your students has either been abused or witnessed abuse. That doesn’t mean they have PTSD. Those students may have dealt with their own trauma and be able to participate in discussions. Or, they may have dealt with their trauma but need to prepare themselves emotionally in advance to participate in discussions. Or, they may be in the process of dealing with the effects of their own trauma and not ready to discuss this subject with a group of strangers. Or, they may be in denial about the impact of their past trauma and deal with it primarily by avoiding discussions and representations of similar issues.

It is NOT your job to help them deal with their trauma. That’s what counsellors, psychologists, and other mental health professionals do. Your classroom is NOT a site for exposure therapy.

That said, thinking about this issue of triggers can help you get clearer about what kind of discomfort is pedagogically productive and what is gratuitous. It can make you more aware of how different students may experience particular texts and how to work with those differences rather than privileging particular readings. It will make you aware of potentially unproductive discussions between students so you can have a strategy for guiding the discussion in more productive directions.

Know your learning objectives

Learning may be uncomfortable but not all discomfort is pedagogically useful. You should be able to articulate the learning objectives of your course and how particular sessions or activities contribute to those objectives.

If confronted by students about particular elements of your course, you will be able to explain why you want them to engage in the specified activity and what purpose it serves pedagogically. In the rare instance that a student is unable to participate, you will have a basis for the design of an alternate activity.

Remember, students are adults and can decide they don’t want to learn something. As adults they also need to take responsibility for the consequences of that decision. You can lead a horse to water. You cannot make it drink.

Your students are not homogenous

The experiences and prior learning that your students bring to your classroom varies considerably. When asking yourself the pedagogic purpose of a particular activity, make sure you consider how it might land with different kinds of students. Don’t assume your class is the first time they have confronted this issue, even if it is the first time they have done so in a scholarly way.

It is your job to ensure that each student has a reasonable chance of achieving the learning objectives for your course. Even without severe psychological distress, discussions need scaffolding to enable those differences among students to lead to pedagogically productive discussions.

Clear description is helpful

You are not producing a suspense thriller. You are teaching a class. Do you really need the element of surprise to achieve your learning objectives? Probably not.

Good titles, subtitles, descriptions, and keywords enable those few students who have PTSD to identify sessions that might be problematic. They can then come to you in office hours to discuss the potential issue and determine how likely the session is to be distressing and how they might deal with that.

Articulating your learning objectives also helps students. They come with their own. They make assumptions about yours. Clearing all that up avoids a lot of misunderstanding and anger. If you are asking people to deal with distressing material, it helps that they know why.

You are a good teacher

You want your students to learn. You know that distress is not conducive to learning.

It is probably a good thing that you’ve wondered about whether you need trigger warnings. Chances are you don’t. Thinking about the issues surrounding trigger warnings will give you more confidence in your pedagogic strategies and help you improve your teaching.