Trigger Unhappy! ‘New York Times’ Hit by Reader Backlash Over Trigger Warnings Article



The New York Times last week published an article headlined “Trust Me, Trigger Warnings Are Helpful” by Sofia Karasek, the director of education and co-founder of the End Rape on Campus organization.

The piece argued that trigger warnings are both necessary and empowering.  Karasek wrote: “When professors give [trigger] warnings, provide alternative readings and facilitate respectful conversations about deeply personal issues, it is easier for all students to participate.

“Accusing students of being coddled or institutions of killing academic freedom is an extreme overreaction against those who wish to be valued and respected in class.

“It is not that difficult issues should not be taught—it is that they should be taught with nuance. Allowing a military veteran to skip a screening of Pearl Harbor or to opt for a less graphic version of a chapter about the Vietnam War is not succumbing to “political correctness” or interfering with learning; it is treating people with basic decency and respect.”

So far, not that surprising. But less predictably, an overwhelming number of New York Times readers vehemently disagreed with Karasek’s argument that trigger warnings are necessary in the comments section.

Here’s a selection of responses that make it clear Times readers, on this evidence, are aligned with the belief that trigger warnings on college campuses are counterproductive and amount to an affront to freedom of speech:

ffjers: “The warnings are about creating comfort- indulging certain students with a pass or different curriculum because they need class to be on their terms.”

Iskander: “When students apply for colleges, they should already be prepared for the challenges ahead of them. Not only should they be prepared to be challenged academically but also they should be prepared to be challenged psychologically.”

Alejandra Muniz: “Although Trigger Warnings come from good intentions, they are pointless. Many people have experienced traumas throughout their lives and a silly warning isn’t going to protect them from getting flashbacks.”

SFR: “When do you expect to live without “trigger warnings”? When you get your first job? When you go to France for your Senior Year Abroad?”

Amanda: “The demand for trigger warnings and safe spaces is a power play by young activists who want to make sure that they can offend others with their extremist politics, but that no one can respond by debunking their absurd claims.”

Yoandel: “Elites, cocooned in posh Harvard classrooms, while our young men are IED’ed in Afghanistan…no trigger warnings for those doing war, for doing police work, and for those surviving—barely—in a bad, unequal economy.”

Veterans, recently slighted by a senior Times editor as “angry old white men being  angry,” also weighed in, objecting to the notion that they would need to receive trigger warnings before watching Michael Bay films:

See also  Juncker’s Terror: UK Brexit Squad Coming For EU Cognac Stash

Joel: “I am a veteran and reject the notion that I need to be protected against depictions of Pearl Harbor or Vietnam (or Iraq or Afghanistan)—they are part of our reality and I need to be able to cope with them. Trigger warnings may make some students more comfortable, but they just defer a student’s need to confront subjects that they may find to be disturbing.”

Zip Zinzel:  “I AM A VETERAN. And in my view, any veteran who couldn’t watch a movie about Pearl Harbor, or read a standard textbook on the Vietnam War, needs to go get help. As a society we are heading a rabbit hole to insanity and infantilism.”

The readers have spoken. Against a backdrop of unprecedented financial, editorial and personnel pressures for the Times, weighed down by poor election coverage and a CEO writing books that nobody reads, will the erstwhile “paper of record” now listen to the comments and amend its stance to a less SJW-friendly position?

Don’t hold your breath…

tags:
On this topic: ( from category )

    Leave feedback

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    *
    *

    2 × 1 =

    Top