Recently my son approached me and asked me if I was familiar with the Netflix original show, 13 Reasons Why.  Honestly, I had heard a little about it from some of my high school students but I had not watched the show myself.  He proceeded to tell me that the theme of the show was suicide and how he and all his friends were talking about it at school.     As parents, we sometimes are at a loss on how to broach some of the heavy topics that affect our adolescent children.  It has a lot to do with being conflicted over wanting to protect our children from some of the scary realities of life and wanting to educate them so they can make the best decisions as they grow into adulthood.  It goes without saying that discussing mental health issues and suicide is not really something that any parent is fully prepared for.  Being able to discuss his thoughts on the Netflix original series, 13 Reasons Why opened the door for us to have an open dialogue about a very sensitive topic.     … [Read more...]