Understand the impact your words can have

If you’ve scrolled through social media recently, you’ve probably seen references to a new television show. It’s called “13 Reasons Why.” Now, before you aggressively leap to a positive or negative reaction to those three words, hear me out. I’m not going to spoil anything other than the general premise, so if you haven’t watched the series, don’t worry about me ruining it for you.

Basically, the show is centered around a group of high-school students. One of their peers, Hannah Baker, commits suicide, and she leaves behind several tapes that get passed among a group of students. There are seven cassette tapes detailing 13 reasons why she ended her life. The students who receive the collection of tapes each have their own reason, where Baker explains their involvement in her decision to take her life.

I have seen two varying reactions to this show. Some people think it’s the greatest thing that has ever happened to pop culture. They praise the idea of openly talking about suicide and showing viewers that everything you say or do can affect them more than you realize.

Other people are infuriated. They don’t like the idea of mental illness being used as just another thing to post about on social media. I’ve even seen posts that accuse those who praise the show of being insensitive to the issue in the past.

I understand both arguments. I think it's great that we are opening up the conversation. Not talking about mental health or the struggles we face openly could make them even worse. However, talking about mental health just for the sake of discussing it isn’t okay. If I see one more tweet saying something along the lines of, "Wow, I never realized what we say affects people so much! #13reasonswhy," I'm going to explode. I'm so glad we're opening the dialogue. I really am. But I’m disgusted that it takes a Netflix show to make people realize the importance of their words and actions.

Is seeing people react to our own words not enough? Is learning about mental illness not enough to make us recognize that this can happen to anyone — even people we know? Why do we have to watch a fictional character elaborate on how other people's actions affected her for more than 12 hours to finally have this revelation?

Dear readers, nobody is perfect. We all say things we don't mean, and we've all done things we wish we hadn't. However, I honestly think sometimes we don't consider the latter of these situations until it's too late. It shouldn't take a fictional person ending his or her life and then posthumously pointing it out in excruciating detail over the course of several tapes for us to realize that maybe what we said or did wasn't okay and might be a bigger deal to someone else than it was to us.

I’m not saying you can’t make a mistake. But at the same time, don’t blow it off because it was just a mistake. Hold yourself accountable. While you can’t always take words or actions back, you can apologize and try to rectify the situation. Don’t wait until something terrible happens to feel remorse.

I invite you to watch this show. While I clearly have my qualms about the way some people reacted to it, I have personally enjoyed the show. If you do, don’t turn it into a way to make you appear “woke.” Let watching this show be an opportunity for a self-evaluation. I hope you understand the power of your words and actions, even if it takes a Netflix series to open your eyes.

Taylor Cavaliere is a UF journalism and psychology sophomore.