Talking It Out

Today's A to Z Challenge post brought to you by the letter... Trigger Warnings Trigger warnings have a bad reputation that is completely unjustified. They’re called stifling of free speech, the special snowflakes controlling what people can say by making “safe spaces”. Except…that’s not what they’re about. At all. Even close. A trigger warning, or content warning, is simply that, a warning. Like, say, a movie or a television show having a PG rating and a warning that “viewer discretion is advised”. It’s simply a courtesy that people ask for . For example, a man who suffered abuse growing up now suffers from severe PTSD. He takes a required sociology class at a college when he sees a warning for a certain day that they’re going to discuss child abuse. He can prepare beforehand or, if he’s feeling particularly unwell that day, skip the class entirely so as not to aggravate his condition. The rest of the class he’s fine over, he just can’t handle discussing abuse, es...