"I’m triggered.” You hear it everywhere these days: from people walking out of an exam, from an upperclassman walking into the FFC, or from your friends when you remind them about that one stupid drunk night.
You can read the headline; You know what this article is going to be about. But before I actually get started, I just want to say that if you identify yourself in any of those examples or if you are someone who uses the word triggered casually — I am not trying to attack you. I’m just going to try to help you understand, if you’re ready to listen.
In 2015 The Atlantic published an article called “How Trigger Warnings Are Hurting Mental Health On Campus,” which argues that college students are coddled. It says, “The ultimate aim, it seems, is to turn campuses into ‘safe spaces’ where young adults are shielded from words and ideas that make some uncomfortable.”
The University of Chicago released a statement in 2016 saying, “Our commitment to academic freedom means that we do not support so called ‘trigger warnings.’” Our generation is seen, not only by older generations but by our peers as well, as overly sheltered.
We’re told to retreat to our “safe spaces.” We’re mocked and told to get over it, told that it’s real life and that we need to learn how to live in the real world.
I’m not going to make any sweeping generalizations here. I’m just going to tell you my story. After that, you can feel free to tell me I’m being overly sensitive.
If you read my article from The News-Letter’s Identity Issue, you know this story. If you haven’t, here’s the short version: I was molested twice as a child, once when I was eight and once when I was 13. But, that’s not what this article is about.
This is about something that happened over five years later. I was in an English class at Hopkins, and one of the readings was Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita.
Lolita is a story told from the perspective of someone who wants to have sex with very young girls. He calls them “nymphs.” I can honestly say I have no idea how the book ended, because I couldn’t get through the thing.
Reading it on a train, I almost threw up. I told myself it was just motion sickness. I told myself to get over it. Stop being a baby. It was five years ago. So I pushed myself to read more, until I was sitting in an 80-degree room shaking uncontrollably, until I became too scared to sleep, afraid that it would make the old nightmares come back.
Still I figured I could sit through that class. I just needed some time; I could get through it. I ended up shaking all the way to lunch and proceeded not to sleep for a week because the nightmares would keep me up. I still did nothing until my friend practically yelled at me to email the professor asking to meet with him.
My professor was incredibly understanding. He didn’t even ask for an explanation. He even made me a separate exam so I wouldn’t have to answer questions from Lolita.
So why was I so afraid of talking to him about it?
Everything in those articles kept bouncing around my head. I imagined myself going into a professor’s office and saying, “I’m triggered by this book,” and I felt like a joke, like a coddled snowflake, like someone who should have been stronger.
So now that you know, tell me, should I have sucked it up and sat through those classes? Was I being too sensitive?
What about people who are “triggered” by literature or film containing self-harm? The people who are exposed to this material and are reminded of their own past. What if they didn’t expect to see that, weren’t prepared for it and then they relapse?
It’s just life, right? They should get over it.
I’m not going to give you every example of someone legitimately being triggered by something. But if you feel the word pop into your head while you’re making a joke, just be conscious of it and stop yourself.
There’s nothing I can do to enforce this. As a lot of arguments against this article or articles like it say, we have freedom of speech.
But the next time you casually throw the word triggered around, think of the people around you. Think of the girl who’s too afraid to tell her professor that class is giving her nightmares. You’re making her feel like an idiot. You’re making her feel like she’s being too weak.
Just think of who you might hurt.
