What Every Parent Needs to Know about Netflix’s 13 Reasons Why

Despite a storm of criticism from parents, Netflix is preparing to release season 3 of the popular series  13 Reasons Why sometime in 2019.

Starring Dylan Minnette and Katherine Langford, 13 Reasons Why follows the story of Clay Jensen, as he tries to uncover why his classmate and crush, Hannah Baker, decides to commit suicide.

Through early July, CNBC reported that Netflix shares were up 104% for the year, in part due to a predicted strong second quarter that included the May 2018 release of the show’s second season. However, Netflix stock plummeted 13% this week after the streaming service significantly missed its subscriber targets. According to Fast Company, Netflix is “expected to hit 5.11 million subscribers globally and 1.23 million subscribers domestically, but it actually hit 4.5 million and 700,000, respectively.” That’s good news for those who are boycotting the company for refusing to remove the controversial show from its offerings.

“I really feel in my heart with all my soul that that show contributed to her passing,” Joseph Bright, whose daughter Anna committed suicide two weeks after binge-watching the whole first season in one weekend, said in a short feature created by the American Family Association.

The Bright family likely isn’t alone in their suffering, as overall, online suicide queries increased by 19% within the three weeks after the initial release of the show.

“Our analyses suggest 13 Reasons Why, in its present form, has both increased suicidal awareness while unintentionally increasing suicidal ideation,” the AFA Journal reported citing The Washington Post. “The most rising queries focused on suicidal ideation. For instance, ‘how to commit suicide,’ ‘commit suicide,’ and ‘how to kill yourself’ were all significantly higher.”

While the Bright family’s ultimate objection is still to get Netflix to pull the series, they also simply want to raise teen suicide awareness in hopes of saving lives and preventing other families from the pain and heartache they have experienced.

“To portray suicide, first of all as an option, is not a good a thing,” said Patrice Bright. “To portray it graphically where you can see and actually get that image in your head, it leaves her vulnerable to the enemy’s attack, which I think it definitely did for our daughter. And then the show causes suicide to look like an act of revenge, which it is not. It destroys your loved ones, not the people who mistreated you or were unkind.”