Around the country, schools are warning about the Netflix series, “13 Reasons Why,” even Kaneland has done so. On May 8th, Kaneland School District sent out an email to every parent warning about the show and how the topics brought up on the show may be difficult for students to process.

In the email Kaneland cites a document from National Association of School Psychologists entitled “’13 Reasons Why’ Netflix Series: Considerations for Educators.”

“The same document goes on to caution educators and parents about the dangers of  ‘vulnerable youth, especially those who have any degree of suicidal ideation’ watching this series,” Kaneland School District said regarding the document.

Kaneland School District only gave a one sentence explanation without specifics on why they sent out the email to parents. The matter of exactly why was still in question until Director of Educational Services, Michael Rice, cleared the air in an interview.

“We believe strongly in open and honest communication with our Kaneland families.  Many experts had cited evidence that this series dealt with difficult material and that parents’ knowledge of this material and resources in talking with their children would be helpful to them.  Since we believe that we are partners with parents in educating and ensuring the safety of all of our students, we felt that sharing the knowledge we had about the series was in the best interest of everyone and wanted to share it,” Rice said.

The Netflix series “13 Reasons Why” is based on a girl who commits suicide and records tapes of herself with each one having a reason why she did it. The show covers a bunch of controversial topics such as rape, suicide, depression, bullying and more. Netflix did give the show a mature rating, but that has not stopped people under 17 from watching the show.

These reasons have caused schools across the country to warn parents and educators about the show. In the email from Kaneland, they mentions ways to seek out help if a student needs it, but one of the ways not mentioned were clubs. Kaneland currently has no clubs for many of topics covered in the show, but there is a chance for one in the future.

“While there is no official club for this specific instance or topic, I have heard from staff that conversations have taken place in various classes and with students as the topic was broached,” superintendent Dr. Todd Leden said.