Rant book

13 Reasons Why

I just don't get why people hate 13 Reasons Why, honestly.

There's been a ton of backlash since this Netflix series came out. Lately I've been seeing a lot of articles being posted with nothing but pure hate for the show.

The purpose for 13 Reasons Why is to spark a conversation about the issues that come up during the show: suicide, bullying, abuse, self harm, sexual assault. The show opens the doors to difficult conversations and serves to bring awareness to the issue.
It unveils the abuse young adults undergo in high schools across the nation, and how things that "aren't a big deal" in one person's eyes can be devastating to another.

The purpose of the show isn't to prevent teenagers from killing themselves. If it was, they'd have approached it from a completely different angle. What the show does do a good job of though, is tell people that they need to watch what they say and they need to be conscious of their actions.

People still think that it's shameful if they have a mental illness. They think it shows personal weakness, a failing. If it's their children who have mental illness, they think it reflects their failure as parents. The more we talk about mental health openly, the more the stigma will be reduced.

While you may not agree with the show, don't try and silence it. People need to watch this show because it can be an effective way to bring up conversations about suicide. Don't silence the conversation because the presentation wasn't what you wanted.

Cause things like sadness and depression are such a taboo in our society and cause there's all this stigma attached to all mental health issues. Cause suicide is a hard topic to talk about. Cause there are people out there who are in great pain and they have absolutely no one to talk to.

Cause seeking help isn't always easy.