Your argument is thoughtful, but in reality, it isn’t how it usually works out. The truth is that the majority of the time that is not how the trigger warnings are used. In academia, clearly they are used to protect from offence or discomfort, usually from something of a politically correct nature, rather than protection from trauma. It is not about warnings, it is about censorship. Also, cognitive studies clearly show that avoidance of a topic is not a service to those suffering from trauma… if you believe that a person should want to overcome and heal from injury or trauma.

You mention food labels for common allergens. They are useful for warning the consumer as are media content warnings like for Game of Thrones, but that is different from how trigger warnings are used in academia. That warning says “do not eat this/view this if these are a problems”. In academia, it is used to not to warn a student not to come to this class if the issues were a problem, but to say that that the instructor cannot mention these things or they are guilty of wrong doing … offence and micro-aggression. Instead of it being a choice and responsibility of the consumer, it is made into the responsibility of the instructor. This is what the beleaguered instructors report. They are intimidated by their students and it is often to enforce political correctness. … That I have a problem with.

OK, lets not pussyfoot around. Take the issue of slavery — Blacks, Jews, Christians… heck, slavery has been common all through history and before… still exists. Consider a Black student hearing of slavery in the south or a Jew hearing of the many slaughters and enslavements of their history. … Sorry, you have to get over the past or you are crippled by it. Again, cognitive studies say avoidance of the topic is crippling… unless you feel that avoiding some discomfort is more important than health… Sometimes a tooth must be pulled. I’m sorry, but I believe that very strongly, because that is a choice I have had to make and I also know that avoidance of a choice makes a choice. I always work for healthy individuals and healthy society.

Lets dive right in - abuse or rape. … For that matter anything that releases adrenaline during trauma so that the memory is fixed and leads to what is called Post Traumatic Stress (PTS)… or “flashbacks” in the day. Bad things. OK, it seems to me that a course syllabus should mention that some topics like rape, physical abuse, mental abuse, murder, torture, war racism, sexism, homosexuality, etc. Lets add in that the topic will cover biological evolution, climate change, religious concepts, political ideologies, etc. I’m fine with that. but once in that classroom, buyer beware. I think it would even be good if the instructor wrote something in the board in front of the class before the start is the issues are going to be controversial, but that is not how this is playing out in the colleges. The students want more than warnings. They want the instructor to be censored. That is beyond the pale to me.

Besides, PTS doesn’t need a direct trigger, but Political Correctness certainly responds to them. Maybe that is really what Trigger Warnings are really about. Is a Trigger Warning about injury or personal trauma, or is it about the discomfort of offence and Political Correctness. In reality, I think it is more often about the latter.

So I ask you. I’m OK with warnings that you like, though understand my skepticism of them, but what about censoring? That is how it works out in reality or there would be no term “micro-aggression”. Should there be a list with checkboxes in the front of every classroom that says “Sex, Slavery, Race, War, Sexism, Violence …. may be mentioned in this classroom today, so you are excused if that could injure you” or must the instructor be censored? … cuz that is how it is working out.

Just FYI, this morning I found one more article about the cognitive studies on how to overcome trauma by dealing with it rather than avoiding it. The research is coming in pretty fast. It’s pretty well known. https://www.yahoo.com/health/exposure-therapy-a-surprisingly-effective-1322733913653302.html