13 Reasons And Paying Attention
One of the elements of becoming masterful at any task or art or activity is "pay attention" to what's happening all the time as it relates to the specific activity, art or task. Parenting is one of those activities that we are not born good at and we work at over time to get better and better so that we can protect our children from harm and raise them to be responsible, healthy, happy, well-adjusted adults. Paying attention to what's happening with them; paying attention to how our words and actions are impacting them; paying attention to the way they interact (or don't) with others are just some of the areas that deserve our particular attention throughout their lifetime and are particularly important during the middle school and teen years.
A new series on Netflix called "13 Reasons" is designed to educate US about how a teen's world and the issues, situations, and behavior they encounter can lead them to considering and too often even committing suicide. The series is provocative, thought provoking, explicit, and challenging. These characteristics are entirely appropriate for adults who are expanding their capacity for being good parents and working to make sure their children never go down this road to suicide. However, that is not the problem with this series. The problem is that middle school children and young, vulnerable teens are watching it unsupervised and without parents even knowing that it is happening. In one case, this resulted in a 12 year old attempting suicide. As parents this is one place we can and must intervene to stop something before we regret not having paid attention to what was happening.
This series is rated MA. Netflix intended to use that rating to communicate to parents that the show is meant for them - or at least they should preview it before letting children of any age watch it. One of the ways we can pay attention as parents and other responsible adults is to notice the ratings on movies and television shows and trust that a rating of MA, for example, means that the content if for Mature Audiences only. At the very least this rating should trigger a reminder that we should watch the show and be sure about what is covered before we let our children of any age see it.
Parents - PAY ATTENTION - Review the Netflix series before you let you children watch it. Apply the screening process that allows you to have a say in what your children can access on Netflix. Then, if you decide to let them watch the program, watch it with them or before they do and take time at the end of an episode to talk about what happened and what they heard and saw that impacted them in the story. Finally, DO NOT LET YOUNG PEOPLE OF ANY AGE BINGE WATCH THIS PROGRAM. It is not designed for anyone to binge watch it so that goes for you adult too.
Netflix is taking some steps to raise awareness about the explicit nature and subject matter in each episode by updating the audible warning that plays before the episode. However, the best way to protect your children from being targets of this material rather than educated by it is to follow the rating system and make sure that if they have access to it anywhere you are in communication with them about the show and the stories it is telling. PAY ATTENTION!