Should Our Middle Schooler Watch ’13 Reasons Why’?

The Netflix series '13 Reasons Why' chronicles why Hannah Barker committed suicide. It's very controversial and I don't know if I should let our middle schooler watch it...

The series was actually suppose to be a feature film. Netflix bought the rights and Selena Gomez is the executive producer.

According to Wikipedia it's:

...based on the 2007 novel Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher and adapted by Brian Yorkey for Netflix. The series revolves around a high school student, Clay Jensen, and another student, Hannah Baker, who committed suicide after suffering a series of demoralizing circumstances, brought on by select individuals at her school. A box of cassette tapes recorded by Hannah before her suicide details thirteen reasons why she ended her life.

It is a jarring look at some very tough subjects - rape and suicide.

It has been praised for the handling of these tough topics, but also has received criticism for the same exact handling.

Being in middle school is not the easiest gig these days - does this drama help or hurt their struggles?

Netflix has picked up a second season to the series...