Trigger warnings are taking over universities, but do they work?

Should speech you don't like come with a health warning? — Should speech you don’t like come with a health warning?

By Jessica Bond

WARNINGS before lectures. Speakers banned. Debate stifled. Students are increasingly making demands about what can and can’t be said on campus. This month, online magazine Spiked revealed that 55 per cent of UK universities are censoring speech.

For many, it is a worrying sign that students are turning away from a diversity of thought that would promote critical thinking, the very thing university education is designed to support.

But can students’ concerns be dismissed as mere …