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After watching the Netflix serial " 13 Reasons Why,“18 - year - old Jaclyn Grimm was leave with a feeling of unease . As the Orlando , Florida , high schooltime student save ina tower in USA Today , there was something benighted , yet compelling about the basic plot line of business : The master character of the serial , Hannah Baker , kills herself and leave behind cassette tapes for the hoi polloi she held creditworthy for her death .
" Hannah wasbullied , assaulted and ignored while she was alive , but her expiry and the tape she leave alone behind changed that , " Grimm wrote in hereditorial .
An image from the Netflix show, “13 Reasons Why."
Grimm , who hasstruggled with self-destructive thoughts , told Live Science that watching a fictitious show where the main character retain her phonation after her death reminded her of how she used to imagine her own suicide would play out , with her friends and family " wish they had turn over out to me . " [ 8 Tips for parent of Teens with Depression ]
For shoal counselors andmental healthexperts , responses like Grimm ’s raise profound concerns as the series ' popularity grows among children , even those as young as 11 years onetime . Among other things , they are worried that the series , which is found ona young - grownup novel of the same deed by Jay Asher , glorifies self-destruction as a viable response to trauma .
Since the serial debuted on the online channel on March 31 , school counselors at midway schools and in high spirits school across the state have get off emails and letters home to parents alerting them to the show .
An image from the Netflix show, “13 Reasons Why."
" It became clean that the show had give-up the ghost viral among adolescent and almost no grownup knew what was cash in one’s chips on , " said Kathy Cowan , spokeswoman for the National Association of School Psychologists , which releasedguidelinesfor parent , scholarly person and school mental wellness professionals on how to talk to young the great unwashed about the show . Cowan say it was the first time the association had issued counsel in reply to a human body of amusement .
" Normally , we put out guidance around a terrorist attack or a high - profile school shooting , " Cowan told Live Science . " So this was a first , but we realise there are potential risks associated with watching the show . "
Netflix reply to concerns Monday by saying that the company was impart warnings that will seem on screen at the outset of the serial . The streaming religious service had already placed warning before episodes containing vivid theme matter , and the fellowship said it was strengthening the " electronic messaging and resource language " in the exist warnings .
Netflix currently hosts a Thomas Nelson Page feature resource for shin new masses athttp://13reasonswhy.info/ , and features a word section on its site , called " 13 intellect Why : Beyond the Reasons . " The section , which was release just before the serial launched , shows cast members , psychologists and the show ’s producers , including Selena Gomez , talking about issues depicted in the serial publication , includingbullying , intimate violation and suicide . [ 5 Misconceptions About Sexual Assault ]
Despite those efforts , Cowan articulate she wishes the duct had " done thing other than from the start . "
Struggling teens
One of the main concerns Cowan has about the serial publication is the way in which it portrays grownup as being both miserable — and , in some cases — callous towardstruggling teenager . The school counselor in the series is depict as particularly inapt and even " immoral , " Cowan said .
" We want Thomas Kid , when they have a problem , to reach out and try help from an adult . This show does not reward that idea , " Cowan said . [ 5 myth About Suicide , Debunked ]
There is also the consequence of the serial ' graphic portrayal of rape and suicide . Not only are the scenes exceedingly unmanageable to watch , some experts fear the suicide shot is also so drawn - out and computer graphic that it could offer teaching and inspiration to vernal people consider self-destruction .
" Years of research has shown that the more detail that is presented in the way a felo-de-se is portrayed , the majuscule the chance that someoneconsuming the mediacan identify with them — and that conjure the risk of copycat behaviour , " said Dr. Victor Schwartz , a psychiatrist and chief aesculapian officer at The Jed Foundation , a suicide prevention nonprofit , which issued its ownguidelinesfor watching the serial .
" There ’s obviously nothing more explicit than really show the outgrowth of somebody decease by suicide , " Schwartz said .
For this rationality , both Schwartz and Cowan discourage anychild struggling with genial healthissues from watching the series , because they fear it could serve as a trigger . Schwartz further counsel that any kid under the historic period of 14 should not watch the series . As for kids older than 14 , Schwartz and Cowan allege if a child is concerned in seeing the serial , parents should debate either watching it with them or at least watching it themselves and then talking to their baby about number bring up in the serial .
" I would also discourage kids from bout watching the series , because I feel it can be overwhelming , " Schwartz told Live Science . " parent should be talking with their kids about what they ’re seeing and understanding . And if a child becomes distraught by the show and upset by it , they should stop watching it . "
Talking about the show
For many parent , it may be too late to stop kids from keep an eye on the show . The series became popular among schoolchildren before many parent agnise what their children were catch . And even though the series is rated TV - MA ( ripe audiences only ) , there ’s piddling to bar a middle schooler from merely clicking " play . "
" The average 12 - year - old can haveaccess to streaming devicesand [ can have ] access to pretty mature content . One thing the internet age is doing is blurring the lines between high school and middle schoolers ' experiences , " Cowan said . " They ’re not as discrete as they used to be . "
For parents whose children have already see the series , Cowan said the appearance are at least serving as an opening to bring up tough subjects with their kid .
" Maybe a year from now , we ’ll search back and say that Netflix succeeded in presenting issue that people had not feel comfortable blab out about , " Cowan said . " I hope that ’s the case , and I hope what we do n’t look back on and see is an increased rate of adolescent suicide orself - harm behaviorsas a result . "
Grimm , who said that all her Quaker have watched the serial publication beginning to end , empathise why the show became so popular so promptly among her peers . But as someone who has struggled with mental health and who knows how authoritative it was that she recognized her condition and got help , she was alarmed that the show never even mentions genial sickness , Grimm said .
" I think from an amusement position , the show gets a lot right — it ’s striking and compelling , " Grimm say . " But just because a show is entertaining does n’t mean it is n’t grave . "
earlier release onLive scientific discipline .
