A host of classic children's and young adult books, including the first in the Harry Potter series, have been labeled with trigger warnings at one of the country's leading universities.
Glasgow University students have been warned Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone contains “outdated views, insults and language.”
JK Rowling's work appears alongside a number of titles, including Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Lewis Carroll, 2001 dystopian novel Noughts and crosses based on the 1899 book by Malorie Blackman and Edith Nesbit Treasure Huntersassessed as having the potential to cause offence.
Rupert Grint, Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson starred in the film adaptation of the book
ALAMY
Another book considered problematic was First term at Malory Towers1946 novel by Enid Blyton set in a girls' boarding school. spawned a series of sequels, as well as a BBC television adaptation.
Warnings have been issued to all students participating in the British Children's Literature module.
• Searching for masterpieces stolen in the longest heist in history
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stonethe book that introduced boy wizard for readers in 1997, has been translated into dozens of languages and has sold more than 120 million copies worldwide. The eponymous hero is bullied by his cruel aunt and uncle and forced to sleep in a closet under their stairs. Harry learns that his parents were killed by Lord Voldemort, an evil wizard, and that his own life is in grave danger.
• Trigger warnings may only encourage people to keep watching
Jeremy Black, a writer and former history professor at the University of Exeter, said warnings were unnecessary. “The University of Glasgow's desire to warn that the values of the past are dangerous and disturbing is a hilarious commentary on its current views,” he said. “All these trigger warnings do is a kind of confirmation bias for the stupid things of the present.”
The University of Glasgow said the guidelines place the books in an academic context.
ALAMY
John Sutherland, emeritus professor of modern English literature at University College London, told the Daily Mail: “In the old days, the British Library had a 'poison cabinet' for books considered dangerous to readers. It was the size of a cupboard. Nowadays, when the epidemic hit, a trigger-lit cabinet would be the size… of King's Cross station [next door]”
Dame Margaret Drabblewriter, said: “Poor, poor pupils! Exposing themselves at their age to Lewis Carroll and Edith Nesbit and all these terribly outdated stories glorifying the public school. How they must suffer. They will need the advice of all the children who lived through these terrible stories and got so much pleasure from them.”
• The hills come alive with the sounds of trigger warnings
Press Secretary University of Glasgow said, “Content consultation in a university setting helps students prepare for critical discussion. Unlike children who read for pleasure, students analyze these texts in depth, which can reveal outdated views about childhood, race, or gender.
“We believe that content guidelines play an important role in the educational environment, allowing faculty and students to have positive learning and teaching experiences on issues that span the full spectrum of human experience and history. They also ensure that we can engage with course content in the most sensitive and respectful manner possible.”
