Estrada 1

Jocelyne Itzel Estrada

Fitzgerald

English

6 September 2023

Do we really know when trigger warnings are needed?

Before heading Jess Taylors article “I offer trigger warnings, I worry they do more harm than

good”, I had a short and brief understanding of what a trigger warning was. Now that I've

finished it, I see similar topics show in her writing which are all sprouted from one main topic,

which is our feelings and comfortability. It almost seems like trigger warnings were made to

keep us in an enclosed bubble, free from censorship, graphic content, and sensitive topics.

Although it's a different story when trigger warnings correlates itself with the safety of students

in an academic setting.

Communication of trigger warnings are important when it's going to be seen by a young

audience and adults, the issue is that now everyone feels the need to induce triggers in almost

every topic discussed or viewed. They start to become regressive in a society making us slowly

go back to our bubble and not wanting to be exposed by something with a potential trigger.

“Trigger warnings also when used in excess, start to feel like censorship” says Roxanne Gay.

The need for trigger warnings have been worn out to an extent where it's overly excessive.

“Learning to engage with difficult challenges is a core part of education” says Jess

Taylor. Triggers have taught us to avoid uncomfortable topics which block our learning

opportunities, but I'm not saying you should willingly be triggered, rather we should be able to
 Estrada 2

accept that trigger warnings happen every single day. Accepting the fact that we cannot censor

ourselves from the world is a greater achievement than being in constant fear and hiding.

We associate trigger warnings too much with our feelings and sense of comfortability and

want to be shielded from everything in the world, so we toss around the words ``May contain

possible trigger warnings” on everything. It subconsiously teaches us to avoid these sensitive

subjects. This leads us back to my essential question “Do we really know when trigger warnings

are needed?”