Op-Education Pros And Cons

From Hippocrates to Homer, ancient Greek writers still influence modern Western civilization. Western canons have traditionally integrated themselves in shaping Western culture and university curriculums in the Literature and the Humanities. However, one specific canon invited the critique of four op-ed writers from Columbia University not for its rhythmic or aesthetic elements, but for the way it “triggered” their classmate. The students were referring to Metamorphoses, a narrative poem written by Ovid, which contained portrayals of sexual assault and the rape of two main female characters. According to the op-ed piece, the class reading disengaged the “triggered” student, who was a sexual assault survivor, and disengaged her from learning

On the other hand, the reason that it has been debated for 20 years now is because academic institutions feel that it deters intellectual discussion in the class environment and it further coddle students. The problem with the trigger warning debate is that there are two prevailing positions that are polar opposites. Both arguments also have their own idea of what constitutes as justice and injustice. The intended audience for this persuasive essay is the faculty and administrative members in universities so they can be affirmed of the few benefits and many dangers of trigger warning policies. However, the audience will be provided with a lens of seeing trigger warnings in a different light. Ultimately, trigger warnings should be exercised strictly as a warning and not as a policy because they censor professors from teaching, and also impede students from succeeding in real

The two extreme positions either rest on the argument that trigger warnings should be mandatory because victims should not be exposed to traumatizing topics while learning, or that they are detrimental because it coddle students. Both positions need to be examined in order to understand why one side weighs heavier than the other. First, some people argue that these warnings should be a mandatory part of the curriculum for the emotional well-being of students. Trigger warnings are a way for students to have control over an unjust situation where they might feel traumatized. Trauma in the classroom disengages the student and impedes their willingness to learn. Some could even argue that a traumatized student might also disengage other students in the classroom. According to USA Today, “No professor is going to teach over the rape victim who stumbles out in hysterics or the veteran who drops under a chair shouting” (Loverin). The same article also states that the Associated Students Senate in UC Santa Barbara is passing a resolution that will make it a policy to include trigger warnings in class syllabi and class discussions. Notably, this could be the result of increasing awareness for mental health problems and the resurgence of political correctness. However, the cause of this resurgence slightly varies from the political correctness of the past decades. For example, this decade’s resurgence focuses on the