13 Reasons Why has sparked controversies ever since it aired on Netflix in 2017. Some view the show as a conversation starter while others criticize the show for glorifying suicide. Across the board, the point is simple - 13 Reasons Why tells the blunt truth of traumas many people share. Here are thirteen reasons why you should let your child watch 13 Reasons Why.
1. Bullying Is Real
Bullying is more common than you would find to believe. Walk around a school lunchroom and look at who is sitting by themselves, look at the girl/guy who doesn’t have the same interests as their peers, watch the kids that are singled out by their so-called peers. 13 Reasons Why portrays how bullying can leave you fighting a battle with yourself.
2. Everybody Needs Somebody
13 Reasons Why shows how it feels to be so alone that you’re drowning in your own mind from the labels people give you, the friends who shut you out and the people who abandon you. Feeling alone is one of the worst feelings you can experience, especially as a child. 13 Reasons Why demonstrates how important it is to make sure you are the ‘somebody’ someone else needs. Be there for someone who doesn’t feel like they can be there for themselves.
3. People Are More Than Their Labels
Labels are given to people constantly. Children need to realize they are not the label that other people give them. They can create their own label. 13 Reasons Why portrays how easy it is to get a label and how once you’re given it, it is so hard to escape. Children can define themselves. It is your job to let them know that.
4. Bottling Emotions Is Dangerous
Children, even adults, often keep emotions bottled up in hopes that they will eventually fade away. 13 Reasons Why shows the consequences of this. 13 Reasons Why uses characters who experience real life events that lead them to bottling up. Children and young teens need to realize that keeping everything in and confining those emotions only creates an outburst of action. Don’t let your child sit around with feelings and emotions that are driving them to depression.
5. Popularity Defines You In School
Sure, we’ve all heard it, “Life gets better after school, right?” School is what defines a child’s life right now. School is where they get their label, eat their lunch, make friends, and create a reputation. Sure, they may be a quiet photographer. At school they come the stalker. School is a totally different world where children can learn to love themselves or feel like they are pinned underwater. Popularity defines people.
6. Rape Is Real
Society ignores rape. Rape is a
topic that is dismissed more often than others because it is hard to prove. 13 Reasons Why demonstrates that rape can happen anywhere and that it is real. Stop avoiding the topic with your
child. Stop pretending like school is a safe and happy place. It isn't always. Rape happens to thousands of young teens typically by someone they know. Being a rape victim is scary, humiliating, hurtful. You feel alone. Parents, don’t be oblivious to talking about rape with your
child. By watching this series, they see the effects it has on victims and how
to properly handle it.
7. Bryce Walker Exists
We all know that one person who things they run shit. They think they are untouchable and that the rules do not apply to them. People like the character Bryce Walker ARE REAL. Show them that there are consequences for these people in the end. Let them watch 13 Reasons Why to understand that justice can be served, even when it feels like it won’t.
8. Parents Do Care
As a parent it is easy to get wrapped up in life, but kids do notice. Your child notices if you like the picture they recently took, compliment them on something new, or ask a real question. They need a parent who shows that they care. In 13 Reasons Why, Hannah experiences parental isolation. Hannah hid so much from them because she had no one to go to. They were not involved with the things she found most important about her life. Show you children you care by showing up.
9. Mental Health Matters
I know many parents who laugh at the idea of anxiety or depression medicine because it is hard to grasp. Many parents make anxiety or depression seem like something that is false or unimportant. So many children fight these demons daily because of fear of judgement. Allow your children to watch 13 Reasons Why to help them understand why their mental health is so important.
10. Bystanders Are Just As Guilty
Sure, your child may not spread the rumors or do the laughing, but doing nothing is still doing something. Bystanders do nothing to stop harassment. Being a bystander makes you guilty. 13 Reasons Why uses characters to demonstrate why being a bystander can leave you feeling just as guilty for not helping.
11. Rumors Are Powerful
It is so easy to spread a rumor, to hear a rumor, or to help create one. Rumors can be deadly. Rumors can create false information about a child who has no chance of defending themselves. People feed off of rumors. One minute of laughter for your child can be the reason someone cries themselves to sleep for months. Let your child watch 13 Reasons Why to understand the power behind a rumor.
12. A Little Kindness Goes A Long Way
Children need positivity, laughter, happiness and a sense of belonging. Hannah didn't experience much kindness, but the tiny moments mattered to her. The little bit of kindness Clay Jenson showed her extended her life for months. Show your children why it is important to be the kindness someone needs that day.
13. Hannah Baker Isn’t Real, But Her Story Is
Hannah may not have been a realistic character, but I can tell you almost everything she went through happened in the halls of my high school. Hannah portrays the life of victim to bullying that labeled and consumed her life. Let your children watch 13 Reasons Why because this stuff happens.
