University of Chicago Tells Incoming Students: Don't Expect Safe Spaces or Trigger Warnings

[Bettie]

187. So, what all do we need to warn about if we're going to find every single possible

"trigger"?

Some people fear insects. Need a trigger warning for that.

Snakes, children, clowns, dogs, cats, crabs, canoes, running water, still water, bottled water, deep water, shallow water, hot water, cold water, showers, darkness, light, sudden changes from darkness to light, the sound of the vacuum cleaner, any sound at all, Ted Nugent (to be fair, that one seems to be pretty universal)....and so on and so forth. There are millions of things that might cause someone to feel bad or uncomfortable. I know someone who can not sit in a public place without first wiping down everything in the vicinity with Clorox wipes. Germs are her trigger.

The point is that in order to cover anything and everything that someone might find disturbing or "triggering" a two page syllabus will end up ten pages long, just due to warnings and lists of possible triggers.

I've had a lot of shit happen to me over the course of my life. I was sexually abused by my father from the time I was 3 until I left home. My mother was physically and emotionally abusive. I lost my first child during labor. A lot of things bring parts of those things back and no one ever offered me a "safe space" or a warning. I just learned to deal with it. Like a grown-up.

From all of that, I learned that people are not as fragile as some might think they are.