I actually read the book at one point when I was doing a wide read of young adult hits to get a feel for the market. If you are a writer, you must only post positive reviews, it’s the unofficial rule of writers everywhere, so let’s just say that this isn’t a review but a PSA.
The book is “13 Reasons Why” by Jay Asher. It sold a LOT of copies. The story itself is told through a series of cassette tapes discovered by a classmate that propose to explain why a girl committed suicide. The first question I asked was “why would there ever be a reason that would justify that?” Maybe chronic, unmanageable pain? No, just bad things happening. Bad things that in fact have happened to a LOT of girls (maybe that’s related to the copies sold). I understand that the author’s intent was to shed light on the impact of bullying and get kids to pay attention to the feelings of others around them, but I am willing to bet the most people who read this are identifying with the victim rather than those around her. The show, created by Brian Yorkey for Netflix, is a bit different but the same basic idea. Disclosure, I did not watch the TV series.
After reading the book, I was concerned that it might encourage suicide, but I had no idea how right that was. Apparently, after the release of the Netflix show, there was a 28.9% increase in suicide rates among U.S. youth ages 10-17 in the month (April 2017). That’s after accounting for ongoing trends in suicide rates, according to a study published today in Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. WOW.
And it is still on Netflix. In fact, they are going to release a second season.
They were actually unable to create a causal link, meaning they can’t prove the series is why the teen suicide rate increased, but they did they best they could to isolate it. These things are nearly impossible to prove in any case. Yet, I still remember thinking the book might have that impact years ago. It was the series they studied, not the book, so maybe the book was better. I’ll never know as I won’t watch the series.
I don’t believe in government censorship, but I do believe in parent censorship.