Vid: Trigger Warnings, Campus Speech, and the Right to Not Be Offended

|

"It's really not anyone else's business to tell someone when they are mentally and emotionally ready to deal with things," says Bailey Loverin, a University of Santa Barbara (UCSB) junior who authored a resolution to mandate that professors issue "trigger warnings" before presenting material that might trigger memories of past traumas in students.

Feminist and social justice blogs popularized the concept of the trigger warning, with writers encouraging each other to label posts that might trigger flashbacks to sexual assault or domestic abuse. As the popularity, and scope, of the trigger warning idea grew, some bloggers began listing potential triggers, ranging from rape and violence and suicide to snakes and needles and even "small holes."

Watch Reason TV's latest documentary on this topic above, which features interviews with Loverin, Foundation for Individual Rights in Education president Greg Lukianoff, and several UCSB students. Or click the link below for the full text of this story, associated links, and downloadable versions.

Approximately 5 minutes. Produced by Zach Weissmueller. Shot by Alex Manning.

Scroll down for downloadable versions, and subscribe to Reason TV's YouTube channel for daily content like this.