Ever since Netflix released the TV show 13 Reasons Why, it seems like no one can stop talking about it. Social media has been splattered with a variety of things related to the show, from important discussions about suicide to the “welcome to your tape” meme. Based off the novel of the same name written by Jay Asher, the show is about a teenaged girl named Hannah Baker who commits suicide and leaves a set of audiotapes behind for people she believed to be involved in her death, explaining what led her to her decision. The series was originally supposed to be a movie starring Selena Gomez, but was eventually picked up by Netflix to be turned into a show in late 2015 (Gomez served as an executive producer instead). The show takes on some heavy topics, such as suicide and rape, but does it do it well?

 These issues are never going to be easy to talk about. Despite most schools having some sort of suicide prevention program in place, suicide still accounts for 11% of all teenage deaths according to the CDC. Since it is such a sensitive topic, the media tends to gloss over it. In movies and TV especially, it tends to be glorified to  the point where it can seem as a viable option to impressionable teens. 13 Reasons Why, however, is different. It does not skip over the uncomfortable things. In fact, it makes you stare them right in the face – literally. In a particularly hard scene to watch, Hannah Baker is raped, and through most of the scene the camera stays focused on her face. It makes you watch her feelings play out as she is assaulted and makes you confront the hard subject like no show has done before. Critics of the show claim that by doing this, and also by showing the entire suicide scene in which she cuts her wrists open with razor blades in a bathtub, the show has somehow crossed a line. Those who claim the show makes them feel uncomfortable seem to forget that that is exactly what they are trying to do. Rape, suicide, bullying: all of these topics are uncomfortable to talk about, but to actually experience them? That is ten times worse. “It is never going to be easy to talk about these things,” Emma Kindsvatter, a junior, said, “But that is the point, right?” It is vital to be able to speak about these things and to start these conversations with teens. 13 Reasons Why shows just how gruesome and lonely suicide is, and personally, it put me so far off of it, it could never be an option. No matter how this subject is portrayed, someone will claim for it to have gone too far.

 Since the show is so insanely popular with teenagers, high schools have been on high alert. Many have said outright that they do not recommend that students watch the show at all, Wake County among them. In an alert to all parents, which can be found here, Wake County stated that they “do not recommend that your student watch the series”, without citing any specific reasons. It does, however, encourage parents to discuss it with their children if they have already seen the show.