How The Storystead Uses Sensitivity Notices and Trigger Warnings

At The Storystead, stories are chosen with heart and intention. Some books are tender, some are joyful, some are challenging, and some shine a light into places we don’t always talk about easily. Because of that range, I use two kinds of content guidance: Sensitivity Notices and Trigger Warnings. Each serves a different purpose, and both are used with care.

🌱 Sensitivity Notices

A Sensitivity Notice is a soft heads-up for emotional themes that may resonate deeply with some readers. These include:

• Grief and remembrance
• Big feelings or fear
• Family changes
• Anxiety, loneliness, or friendship conflict
• Illness or hospitalization
• Identity exploration

These themes are not harmful in themselves; in fact, many are developmentally appropriate and deeply meaningful, but some readers benefit from knowing they’re coming. Sensitivity Notices help prepare, not protect. They give space for emotional readiness without labeling a book as unsafe.

Most picture books and many middle-grade and YA titles will include either a gentle notice or none at all, depending on the tone of the story.

🔥 Trigger Warnings

Trigger Warnings are different. They are used only when a book includes content that may be activating, distressing, or harmful to readers with lived trauma. These may include:

• Suicide or self-harm
• Abuse (physical, emotional, or sexual)
• Domestic violence
• War, trauma, or violence
• Substance abuse
• Eating disorders
• Police or institutional violence

Trigger Warnings are clear and direct; not to alarm readers, but to support informed choices. They are reserved for content involving actual harm or traumatic experiences, not simply emotional intensity.

Importantly:
Not every YA book requires a Trigger Warning.
YA explores big questions and big feelings by design. A warning is only used when the content crosses into territory where a reader’s safety or stability could be affected.

🌼 Why This Matters

I want teens to feel respected, not talked down to. I want adults to feel informed, not overwhelmed. I also want sensitive readers to feel held without being shielded from meaningful stories.

This system helps keep guidance clear, compassionate, and purposeful.

🌿 A Living System

These guidelines are a starting point, not a final rulebook. As The Storystead grows, as more books enter the library, as I deepen my training, as research evolves, and as readers share their reflections, this approach will grow too.

Content labeling is not static; it’s something we learn and refine together. If you ever have suggestions, questions, or feedback, I welcome them wholeheartedly. Stories shape us, and the way we talk about those stories should be shaped with just as much care.