Problematic Stuff

[Scot Dutchy]

At long last the car is finally being seen for what it is; a form of transport. Lease car users have no attachment at all to their vehicle.

[pErvinalia]

Uh oh... It's coming to Australia..

A key element in the new culture war that has swept through universities around the world has reached Australian campuses.

Monash University has become the first in Australia to implement a policy of "trigger warnings".

In its pilot program, 15 of the university's course outlines carry the warnings of potentially emotionally distressing content.

The university says political correctness played no part in its decision, but critics say it is a concession to students demanding to be shielded from ideas they disagree with.

The pilot involves the university asking its academics to review course content looking for "emotionally confronting material" in the discussion of sexual assault, violence, domestic abuse, child abuse, eating disorders, self-harm, suicide, pornography, abortion, kidnapping, hate speech, animal cruelty and animal deaths including abattoirs.

.........

The Student Association at Monash is satisfied with the list of subject areas the university has adopted for trigger warnings, but at other campuses students are drawing up much more extensive lists.

The Network of Women Students Australia has its impressively long list that includes classism, corpses, skulls or skeletons, drug use or talk of drugs (legal, illegal or psychiatric), eye contact (scopophobia), food, gore, insects, medical procedures, mental illness, Nazi paraphernalia, needles, panic attacks, pregnancy, slimy things, snakes, spiders, trichitillomania, trypophobia, vomit, warfare and weapons.

It says it remains open to suggestions to add to that list.

[cont]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-28/m ... cy/8390264

[Forty Two]

First they came for the Americans, I did not speak out because I was not an American. Then they came for the Brits, and I did nothing, because I am not a Brit. Etc. Then they came for me... and there was nobody left to speak out, because speaking out was now a microaggression, or worse, a violent assault against a marginalized community.....

[JimC]

Well, if all they are doing is making sure that any course containing "sexual assault, violence, domestic abuse, child abuse, eating disorders, self-harm, suicide, pornography, abortion, kidnapping, hate speech, animal cruelty and animal deaths including abattoirs" has a warning attached, then people can ignore the warning if they choose, or take another course if they are feeling a little fragile...
The list at the end seems to be a bit more bizarre, but again, as long as none of the material is censored, and it's only about a warning about content, then it's no big deal, IMO...

[Hermit]

If it was up to me to present a course I'd put up the following sign:

Trigger warning: No matter what issue or topic may trigger emotional distress, the possibility of it being encountered here cannot be excluded.

[pErvinalia]

If I was to present a course, I'd have to put up the content warnings from movies and television. "Contains violence, swearing, sexual reference, drug themes...."

[JimC]

If I was to present a course, I'd have to put up the content warnings from movies and television. "Contains violence, swearing, sexual reference, drug themes...."

And the lecturer will tell you that you are a fucking idiot at the least provocation...

[Hermit]

If I was to present a course, I'd have to put up the content warnings from movies and television. "Contains violence, swearing, sexual reference, drug themes...."

And the lecturer will tell you that you are a fucking idiot at the least provocation...

And he won't explain anything coz he's done that so many times already.

[pErvinalia]

If I was to present a course, I'd have to put up the content warnings from movies and television. "Contains violence, swearing, sexual reference, drug themes...."

And the lecturer will tell you that you are a fucking idiot at the least provocation...

[pErvinalia]

If I was to present a course, I'd have to put up the content warnings from movies and television. "Contains violence, swearing, sexual reference, drug themes...."

And the lecturer will tell you that you are a fucking idiot at the least provocation...

And he won't explain anything coz he's done that so many times already.

Very true.

[Svartalf]

If I was to present a course, I'd have to put up the content warnings from movies and television. "Contains violence, swearing, sexual reference, drug themes...."

And the lecturer will tell you that you are a fucking idiot at the least provocation...

I wish I were a fucking idiot, being a celibate genius is doing nothing for me.

[Hermit]

If I was to present a course, I'd have to put up the content warnings from movies and television. "Contains violence, swearing, sexual reference, drug themes...."

And the lecturer will tell you that you are a fucking idiot at the least provocation...

I wish I were a fucking idiot, being a celibate genius is doing nothing for me.

[Animavore]

The thing I don't get about the so-called 'trigger warnings', though, is why they are needed for most subjects. If you study medicine of course you're going to see medical procedures and corpses. If you're studying 20th century history I don't see how Nazi paraphernalia can be avoided. If you're taking sociology or psychology then your interest in it already suggests you know what you're getting yourself in to. And imagine the absurdity of enrolling for entomology and being warned you may see insects!

And if you're doing any subject where you don't expect to come across nastiness , being told in advance is only going to ruin whatever prank is being played on you.

[NineBerry]

"May contain nuts"

[rainbow]

And if you're doing any subject where you don't expect to come across nastiness , being told in advance is only going to ruin whatever prank is being played on you.

Exactly. It is like when you visit Africa and are invited to bath in a big iron pot.

A warning would ruin the surprise.