"13 Reasons Why" Season 3: What parents need to know

[Jess1-RO]

13 Reasons Why Season 3: What Parents need to know

You might have heard through the grapevine that 13 Reasons Why: Season Three aired Friday the 23rd of August 2019. Due to the heavy topics raised in the show, we have created a space that has a ton of resources to help teens and parents make safe decisions about what to watch, and how to deal with some of the sensitive issues raised in the show. Check them out Here

For those who aren't familiar with the first two seasons, we have a discussion here on the parents forum about Season 1 and Season 2. The sensitive themes covered in 13 Reasons Why are important social issues to bring to people's attention and discuss. However, sometimes it can be triggering to see certain issues/situations being acted out on screen. That’s why it’s really important to check in with yourself and your teen to assess whether you think it’s a show you or your teen can safely watch.

ReachOut has developed some resources to help teens make a decision about whether or not to watch a tv show or movie, and might be helpful for families looking to start a conversation about graphic tv viewing and support safe decision making:

If the show or conversation has brought up anything distressing or concerning for your teen, here are some places they can get immediate support: 

Call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Kids Help Line on 1800 55 1800 to get immediate support. They can also access the ReachOut Youth Forums here. See a list of services that can provide Urgent Help

Let us know any of your thoughts or concerns 

[JAKGR8]

Thanks for this. I did watch season 1 with the youngest but haven't allowed her to watch the next 2 yet. None of them are allowed to watch it alone anyway.
It has been useful in teaching about how different each person's perception is and how there are hidden reasons for certain reactions.

[Jess1-RO]

Hi @JAKGR8 some really great points. It sounds like watching the first season with your teens was a good option. Did you find that they asked questions and allowed you to have more open discussions about some of the themes in the tv show?

As a parent who's teens have seen the first season, do you have any advice for parents who may be concerned about their teens watching 13 reasons why?

[JAKGR8]

I found we would often just pause and discuss what was happening. My kids don't ask questions but I prompt the discussion. We found it good to stop and reflect on everybody's point of view and which characters we could identify with. It could change in each episode. 

We also discussed how it was the same/different in Australia, in their/friends/family schools. What was better worse and what we could do in certain situations. The third season does have a brilliant theme of accountability which would be great if the other themes weren't traumatising. You can't unsee some things and even as an adult I can still be haunted by certain scenes.

Also it is extremely sad that this is the reality for some children/teens. I find that horrifying.

I would strongly recommend watching it first. The one show I didn't preview was the one that was the most confronting. Fortunately, my kids agreed with me and we sped through it.

Coincidentally, this "/we-know-it-harms-kids-to-see-smoking-on-tv-what-about-rape" popped up in my newsfeed after this post and I also suggest reading it. 

     "Recently, Netflix announced that it would not include depictions of smoking in any new programming aimed at younger viewers. In a similar vein, on the advice of medical experts, it has removed the suicide scene from the first season of its teen drama “13 Reasons Why.”

These efforts to protect the physical and mental health of young people are commendable. But if we are reconsidering what gets set before adolescents in the context of entertainment, there’s a serious and striking omission in the announced changes: depictions of rape."

[Jess1-RO]

Hi @JAKGR8,

It sounds like you had a really informative and educational approach to watching season 1 together with your children. The articles you have shared were also very interesting. 

It seems like the producers of '13 Reasons Why' are making an effort to reduce the traumatic content available around the show, particularly the very graphic scenes. 

One of things we also encourage our youth forum members to do is to reach out and speak to a professional if there are any themes that are still "sitting" with them after watching graphic tv shows. We find a few of our youth forum members will reach out to Kids Helpline or Lifeline which can also be a helpful place to get support too (for parents too!)