hannah baker. shit.y the story of my life. >> more specifically why my life ended.istening to this tape, you are one of the reasons why. ♪ truth?ah telling the >> don't believe everything you hear. >> whatever hannah thought she lied about it on the tapes because she's a crazy drama queen who killed herself attention. >> hannah baker, secrets are what killed her. >> maybe i'll never know why you you did, i can understand how it felt. >> you don't know the whole story. i need to know? you are just like the rest of them, but i'm not. >> everyone is just -- netflix series "13 reasons why, gots getting a lot of attention. the creators of it say it was intended to help teenagers with issues. oining us from new york, caroli caroli frenkle. do you agree with what the creators say? guest: i do. i think the biggest part, if the national institute of mental out with 13-part series on how bullying and depression lt and affect teens, nobody would watch it. to applaud netflix, they used their popularity in order platform for us to start talking about what it is we are see nothin

. >> brangham: "13 reasons why" tells the fictional story of hannah baker, a 17-year-old high school student who takes her own life. hannah leaves behind 13 cassette tapes, where she narrates the events leading up to her suicide. >> hey, it's hannah. hannah baker. >> brangham: each tape centers around one person, and in it, hannah tries to explain why that person was, or wasn't, to blame for her death. >> don't adjust your whatever device you're hearing this on. it's me, live and in stereo. get a snack, settle in, because i'm about to tell you the story of my life-- more specifically, why my life ended. and if you're listening to this, you're one of the reasons why. >> brangham: the show, which was released in its entirety a month ago, brutally depicts some very tough topics: hazing, cyber- bullying, and rape. hannah's own rape by one of her classmates is unsparingly shown. the series is based on a 2007 young adult novel by jay asher, and it was produced by singer selena gomez. since its release, school boards around the country have sent warning letters to parents, alerting them to t

. >> reporter: the series executive produced by selena gomez chronicles hannah baker who commits suicide didn't you say this to me when i was alive? >> reporter: but leaves audiotapes behind for the 13 people she blames. >> it's hannah. >> reporter: today schools across the country are grappling with how to handle the show amidst a national backlash. >> controversy surrounding the popular netflix series "13 reasons why." >> sensationalizing teen suicide -- >> reporter: some asking teens not to watch. parents jackson, reportedly struggled in the past, posting on instagram, the show is a warning for bullies but at the same time is also an extremely triggering thing to watch. credit ins say the show glorifies suicide. in part suggesting hannah gets what she wanted. >> it felt like i was already dead. >> reporter: revenge. netflix telling abc news in a unflinching vision of the show's creators who engage the careful advice of medical professionals in the scriptwriting process. >> i would not, as a parent, advise anybody under the age of 16 or even 17 to watch this show. but i think they are

and pretty much it -- it follows a girl called hannah baker who i play, who commits suicide and leavesect matter. i know there's a little controversy around it, too, because people are saying maybe -- it glorifies suicide. >> yeah well, i mean -- i mean, of course, like there's controversy, 'cause you need to have -- like i think things like these instigate discussion, which is the important part. and i think, you know, that we cover so many important issues in the show, that are gonna affect people differently, depending on their own personal context. and i'm like, everyone's feelings are valid, so i'm not going to tell anyone to feel anything differently. but you know, personally like, being directly involved in the show, and seeing the thought and the consideration that went into it, and also being a young adult, playing a young adult and covering issues that are relevant. i feel really proud of -- of the way that we covered it and thing as well, like, when netflix is yes, we made this piece of entertainment and there was a focus on trying to show it in a way that showed justice to

. >> reporter: the series executive produced by selena gomez chronicles hannah baker who commits suicideo me when i was alive? >> reporter: who leaves audiotapes behind for the 13 people she blames. today schools across the country are grappling with how to handle the show amidst a national backlash. >> "13 reasons why" and the department of education is worried about them. >> sensationalizing teen suicide. >> reporter: some asking teens not to watch. critics say the show glorifies suicide suggesting hannah gets what she wanted. >> it felt like i was already dead. >> reporter: revenge. netflix telling abc news in a statement, we support the unflinching vision of the show's creators who engage the careful advice of medical professionals in the script writing process." >> i would not, as a parent, advise anybody under the age of 16 or even 17 to watch this show. but i think they are watching it. what we need to do is talk to them about it. >> reporter: the statistics are sobering. for young people between the ages of 10 and 24. suicide is the second leading cause of death. >> i think it's

the show deals with a young girl hannah baker who takes her own life and leaves behind reasons why on've seen the show. it's very disturbing. especially the ending. i understand where the controversy lies even i had to cover my eyes during some of it which is really strange but gom. she's one of the executive producers on the show. she's respond to go controversy. she said quote we stayed very true to the book that's initially what author jay asher created a beautifully tragic complicated yet suspense full story and that's what we want to do. we wanted to do it justice and yeah, the backlash is going to come no matter it's not an easy subject to talk about ". >> i think it's an interesting topic. i think people are talking about 8l everybody is wondering, you know, is it too much for younger kids but i think subject matter people don't really talk about that often. >> suicide and bullying and things like that. i will say one of things the show does effectively domino effect. you can say one thing about somebody and then three years later you have no idea where that rhyme more went who

hey, it's hannah — hannah baker. settle in because i'm about to tell you the story of my life.h their children about the issues raised in the programme. one of those is drjack phillips who is the principal of the american school in london. lorna fraser is from the samaritans, and mel ciavucco is a fan of the drama. she's in bristol. we asked someone from netflix to ta ke we asked someone from netflix to take part this morning, but no one was available. your concerns dr phillips? one was about the suicide itself. we were concerned about the roe mant sization of suicide. the young lady in the show leaves an elaborate suicide letter. it is a serious decision to take one's life. we were concerned about the graphic nature of the suicidement if a student were vulnerable that it could increase the chance that they might self—harm. lorna frazer, is it irresponsible this programme? well, ideally the story could have been presented in quite a different way. does that mean, yes, it is? it does roe mant size the idea of suicide. suicide... and that's a bad thing? yeah, it is. imean, there