13 reasons for Netflix to keep 13 Reasons Why

Recently Today.com posted an article stating that that the Netflix show should be “immediately taken off the air” arguing that teenage suicide is “contagious.” Social media and general media’s influence is often blamed for something that is already there. Books! books can be blamed too. Are we going to tell them to stop reading? Oh! when they write in their private journals they write about how badly they feel about themselves, perhaps that is too dangerous. We need to take away their pens. No! wait, they type into their computers these days. Take away their keyboards and smartphones. Just leave them with their thoughts. Just shove down their feelings. They aren’t real. They aren’t going to matter if they just keep quiet, they aren’t going to act on their feelings.

These are my 13 reasons, I believe, Netflix should keep 13 Reasons Why on the air:

1. The First Amendment.
2. Banning something doesn’t make it not exist.
3. Suicide is real. Not talking about it is not going to stop kids from thinking about it or acting on it. What will help is having a conversation with kids.
4. High school sucks, we all know it. We all have been through it. so let’s talk about it. We can’t imagine the specifics of kids today, but we can certainly talk about how we felt and how we acted as kids in high school.
5. Bullying doesn’t stop because we want it to. I was bullied in high school and it was miserable. I made some bad decisions and others didn’t let me forget it or move on for nearly three years. I was threatened and labeled and I hid wherever and whenever I could. I was lucky. It could have beat me. I was lucky enough to find a life outside of school that worked.
6. The series doesn’t glorify, or romanticise, suicide. This series takes a hard look at how the actions people take have consequences. Even the main character is not free from scrutiny of her actions.
7. Just because a topic is uncomfortable for us to talk about doesn’t mean we shouldn’t talk about it. That is exactly when we should be talking.
8. You are not protecting children/teens from the subject by banning the series. Yes, we know that the teenage brain isn’t fully developed and we know that there is an irrational part that doesn’t always reason clearly.
9. This series is a great teachable opportunity.
10. The series might change someone’s mind.
11. Kids are never too young to experience desperation and sadness where they feel no other way out. Why not help them by opening up the lines of communication?
12. Rape, and date rape, often goes unreported.
13. This series is art that imitates life.

If you don’t like the series and the way it is presented, this is your opportunity to write and create a story that shows teens who go through a rough time and triumph over them past the brink of suicide.

Watching this series reminded me of how hard high school is and will always be. Teenage years are full of confusion and change. I lost friends to suicide.

I lost my best friend to suicide in January and I was blindsided by it. When it happens and we are left with more questions than answers. A series like this helps shed some light on how life can spiral out of control and how suicide, for some is the control one might seek.

So, those are my reasons why I believe that Netflix should keep this series on the air.

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