As before, I trust that as a skilled and thoughtful educator, you could devise many ways of…

Now, you might be wondering, how does this effectively warn students with triggers, if it’s so general or vague? How do you thread the…

As before, I trust that as a skilled and thoughtful educator, you could devise many ways of providing TWs without spoiling material or ruining plot reveals. The strategy that first occurs to me is an extension of the one I already described: open up the Romeo & Juliet unit with a discussion of the historical context & background information, as well as a thematic overview (all of which most good English instructors do), and also, as part of that same conversation just mention that there will be mentions of violence, death, and descriptions of suicide. That does not tell students who will die and how the plot will play out, and if it’s dropped in alongside a big, sweeping discussion of the work and the era from which it came, few students are going to latch onto it as a spoiler.

Now, you might be wondering, how does this effectively warn students with triggers, if it’s so general or vague? How do you thread the needle of proving students who need TWs with a good heads-up while also not spoiling the plot for the whole class? I think this is actually pretty easy. Again, at the outset of the unit, just say “Hey this work contains some mentions of X, Y, and Z, and if any of those things are particularly upsetting to you, let me know in private or in a note to my mailbox, so I can give you a more specific heads-up.” Then, if you have a student who, for example is coping with the suicide or suicide attempt of a friend and suffering trauma symptoms from it, they can let you know they want a more specific warning of when suicide will appear in the work (or on which day of class it will be discussed). This warning you can then provide in private verbally or with a note.

I’m sure you could have come up with a solution as good or better than this, though. The point is that you do & will have students who are affected by suicide & violence & all the other potentially triggering content that does come up in great works of art, and that by accommodating their needs you are making these great works more accessible to them. Which is a great thing. And that accessibility can be provided without wrecking the plot reveal. Though, honestly, I don’t think too many students are gonna have a diminished reaction to R&J because you mentioned suicide is involved in a pre-class TW. Most people kinda know the tropes of that work anyway I think.