Chapter 3: RECIRCULATINGTHE NARRATIVE

For the girl who is targeted, the experience of being labeled a slut is heightened and sharpened like ever before. In today’s electronic age, ‘slut’ is an identity with no escape.

— I AM NOT a Slut: Slut Shaming in the Age of the Internet (Tanenbaum, 2015, p. 3)

Recently I received a letter from our school board about theNetflix series 13 Reasons Why. In the letter, our local school board expressed deep concern regarding “disturbing trends” involving teen mental health, selfharm, and suicide prompted by the Netflix series. The letter equally acknowledges a web-based game on social media, which ultimately involves a suicide challenge: The Blue Whale Challenge (Murphy, 2017). Thus, the letter encourages parents to talk to their children about what they watch and how they experience it; they conclude with a list of resources including suicide hotlines and tips for parents. The purpose of the letter is to both ask parents to actively take a part in their children’s lives and to take seriously the effects of social media and popular culture. The letter I received is part of a general response to the series, as administrators across the country are providing responses which are intended to make visible multiple resources (Richter, 2017).