Cambridge University slaps trigger warning on Little Red Riding Hood over 'adult content' and 'themes of violence'

By ELEANOR HARDING, EDUCATION EDITOR Published: 20:56, 10 August 2026 | Updated: 20:58, 10 August 2026 Cambridge University has slapped a trigger warning on the fairytale Little Red Riding Hood over 'adult content' and 'themes of violence'. The warning was issued to students ahead of a webinar lecture about the history of bedtime stories. The session was laid on for free by Clare College for state school pupils to prepare them for university study, particularly in the humanities. It encouraged those taking GCSEs and A-levels to take a critical look at childhood stories and to read 'beneath the surface'. But official course notes cautioned: 'Content warning: Please note this session will involve discussion of some adult content including themes of violence, with reference to fairytales.' In the original 1697 version of the fairytale, the hungry wolf succeeds in eating Red Riding Hood's grandmother before also killing the young girl. A later 19th century version by the Brothers Grimm was still violent, but with a happier ending. The story was also retold with a frightening angle in a 2011 film starring Amanda Seyfried. Cambridge University has slapped a trigger warning on the fairytale Little Red Riding Hood (pictured) over 'adult content' and 'themes of violence' The warning was issued to students ahead of a webinar lecture about the history of bedtime stories (pictured: the 2011 film adaptation starring Amanda Seyfried) The session was laid on for free for state school pupils to prepare them for university study, particularly in the humanities (pictured: Cambridge University) Lord Toby Young, of the Free Speech Union, told The Sun: 'Putting trigger warnings on fairytales is infantilising, even for Cambridge.' This is the latest in a long line of trigger warning incidents at the elite university. In 2017, its English department was revealed to have put warnings on lectures about a wide range of classic texts. Tutors put red danger icons next to any sessions on content which 'could be deemed upsetting'. This included lessons on Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus, which was said to contain 'discussion of sexual violence, sexual assault'. A warning was also put on a lecture about Greek playwright Euripides' The Bacchae, which features scenes of women tearing cattle and humans to pieces. And in 2022, the Cambridge Centre for Teaching and Learning (CCTL) told staff that all books and plays featuring violence, discrimination and illness should all carry a warning content note. Bosses said it would make education more inclusive by stopping students from being excessively distressed. Cambridge was contacted for comment.