Dear Parent/Guardian:

This letter is being sent to you to inform you that it has come to our attention that Netflix has produced and created a television series based on Jay Asher’s 2007 book entitled Thirteen Reasons Why.   The series was released on Friday, March 31st.  The topics covered in this book and series are: adolescent bullying, rejection, heartbreak, sexual assault, abuse, revenge, depression, suicide and desperate but unsuccessful efforts to find help or understanding.  The book provided 13 reasons related to interactions with peers, family and school personnel justifying the teenaged lead character’s ultimate decision to end her life.

The trailer and advertisements for the series can be misleading.   In watching the series, young people and teenagers could perceive the message that suicide is a viable and/or romanticized option. The content of the series is extremely graphic with troubling scenes throughout each episode, which may be difficult for the teenage mind to watch and process in an appropriate way.

Such series can be very difficult to watch and could easily trigger feelings of distress in vulnerable viewers.   We are notifying you of this event to enable you to make informed decisions regarding viewing this series.   In the event your child chooses to view this series, you may wish to discuss some of the issues raised. To facilitate discussion of these issues with your child, we are enclosing an outline of suggestions that may help with such a dialogue.    Please note that this letter is not recommending viewing this series; it is intended only to provide you with information we feel is relevant to the health and wellbeing of our students.  The outline is offered for your consideration if you should choose to view this series as a family. It should also be noted that Netflix opens all 13 episodes for continuous viewing so parents should consider metered viewing of the series to allow time to process and discuss themes and feelings that may arise.

The series has some of the following shortcomings:

• There is no mention of mental health and treatment options, as it references suicide throughout
• The idea of suicide is romanticized throughout
• There are no examples of help-seeking by the teens impacted
• There are several scenes throughout depicting serious trauma, which the teens do not seek help or resources for (i.e., rape, bullying, car accidents, fights, alcoholism, suicide)
• The series does not express what to do in harmful situations in terms of getting help or utilizing healthy coping skills
• The series is not meant to be an educational film, and it’s message does not comply with the health recommendations for treating mental health, and/or trauma, or preventing suicide.

Below are several suggestions for relatively easy, safe approaches that you and your family might consider to discuss the series.

Possible themes to explore:

• If you could talk to any of the characters, who would you want to talk to?  What would you want to say to him/her?
• What are three situations from the series when young people acted in heroic and empathic ways?
• If you were Hannah, what words or actions might have helped you survive?
• If you were Hannah, what might have helped you make different decisions?
• If you could rewrite history — or even just one event in each one of the 13 installments, what would you rewrite?   In the first?  In the second?  In the third?    Why is that event so important?”

*Resources:  www.save.org;  www.jedfoundation.org

Local Resources

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-TALK (8255)

The Lifeline provides 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress and crisis resources for you or your loved ones.

National Sexual Assault Hotline 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or

Confidential Online-Chat online.rainn.org

The National Sexual Assault Hotline provides 24/7, free and confidential support to sexual assault survivors and their loved ones.

We value the input of our community and look forward to continuing to work together for the wellbeing of all our youth.

Maureen O’Dea

Director of School Counseling

Londonderry High School

(603) 432-6941 2110