Trigger warnings were one aspect of social awareness I was not prepared for moving away from the UAE for university, yet I was surprised to see they existed. Not because they aren't important, but because I have disdain for their need at all.

In a classroom anywhere today, you might see a 'this is a safe space' sign, as a teacher's way of projecting that a student can come to them with any of their worries or needs, or fears, and that students will treat each other with respect and open-mindedness. These were skills inherent to growing up and succeeding at school-there were plenty of students growing up more concerned with being racist and mean-spirited, or dealing with racism and Islamophobia. When I came back to Canada and had to do a semester of Canadian high school, I was surprised, because that open-mindedness and kind-heartedness to strangers is, to me and my generation, the absolute bare minimum.

The premise of this column is that, as Gen-Z, what do trigger warnings do for us when we have adopted not just open-mindedness, but are embracing anti-racism and multiculturalism? Are we being too sensitive, to the point of only seeing what might offend a person rather than the human underneath? Or are we demonstrating our awareness and our education, that one might encounter words or images that are objectively 'offensive', but in context need to be shown to convey necessary nuance?

Further, have people who have experienced traumatic things consented to always being reminded of that trauma?

Take trauma out of it-does a person who does not like spiders have to look at them? Or rather, is there, as usual, a nuanced 'bar' for these things, simply that some things more than others are deserving of a trigger warning? Can and should we be aware of every phobia and fear, or is there a level of risk to ourselves and our feelings that we all must accept being out and about in the world?

Gen-Z are really the first people confronting these questions. Our elders might care and even do the work, but for us there is a deeper curiosity around why a trigger warning or 'viewer discretion is advised' sign is needed. The answer I have come to is for education and punishment alike; if you don't know, you will if you question or test the trigger warning, and if you do maybe you aren't expecting the punishment from calling a teacher a slur or spreading a negative stereotype.

It sounds lame, and the fact is that people do not want to think,“do the work” or always be worrying about offending everyone, but we live in a society that is complex, diverse and internationalised. We have a social contract, and that means everyone is deserving of respect, and our focus and rigour when that person is threatened for being themselves.

Indeed, we allowed the social contract to be forgotten with endless bots, anonymous accounts and spam on social media. But if we want the world to be a safe and happy place where we all know there are children younger and younger online as well as entire cultures that do not need to be offended simply because it is the decent and human thing to care. It doesn't have to be any more complicated than that.

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