Photo: Beth Dubber/Netflix
Anyone who?s ever met preteens and teenagers knows that the quickest way to get them to do something is to tell them not to do it. Which is why cautions against the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why issued by some Canadian schools are so very misguided.
The Hamilton Wentworth District School Board has recommended that its staff not use the show as a teaching aid because of its ?glamorization of suicidal behaviour and [depicting] negative portrayals of helping professionals.? And the principal at St. Vincent Elementary School in Edmonton recently sent home a letter telling parents that kids aren?t even allowed to mention the series on school property. (In New Zealand, the national ratings board has said that kids under 18 must watch with adult supervision.) The series, which has the slick look of a teen soap, tells the story of a 17-year-old girl who kills herself and leaves behind 13 cassette recordings for people who she says drove her to take her own life. There is a graphic scene of her suicide, as well as scenes of rape.
13 Reasons Why has been available on Netflix for over a month. The company doesn?t release viewership numbers, so it?s not known how many kids have actually watched the show, but it has been the subject of more than 11 million tweets since its March 30 launch ? the most tweeted about show of 2017 so far.
It?s futile to rail against the series, or ban it, or silence talk about it, or hope it will just go away. At this point, the mo...