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Teen kills self days after binge-watching ‘13 Reasons Why.’ Now parents demand Netflix pull show.
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Teen kills self days after binge-watching ‘13 Reasons Why.’ Now parents demand Netflix pull show.

A 14-year-old girl is dead by her own hand, and her parents are saying that Netflix's controversial series, "13 Reasons Why" — which centers on teen suicide — is at least partially to blame.

Now her parents, along with a Christian group, are demanding that Netflix pull the show from its lineup.

What's the history?

Anna Bright, a 14-year-old student, killed herself in April 2017 after binge-watching the show.

"I really feel in my heart with all my soul that that show contributed to her passing," Joseph Bright, Anna's father, said in a video released Wednesday by the American Family Association.

Patrice, Anna's mother, added, "To portray suicide first of all as an option is not a good thing. To portray it graphically where you can actually see and get that image in your head, it leaves you vulnerable to the enemy's attack, which I think it definitely did for our daughter."

"It causes suicide to look like an act of revenge, which it is not," Patrice continued. "It destroys your loved ones, not the people who mistreated you, or were unkind. We've even heard from friends that a text went around after Anna passed away that they were glad that she died. Those are not the people who care about you in the first place."

Joseph, a former pastor, also said that his daughter couldn't even escape the calamity being raised in a "loving, God-fearing home."

Who sent the letter?

Along with the Bright family, AFA President Tim Wildmon sent a letter to Netflix in March asking the streaming giant to sit down and have a discussion about the show's impact on young children and teens.

According to Wildmon, the letter was entirely ignored.

As a result, he and the Brights crafted a petition to have "13 Reasons Why" pulled from Netflix.

A portion of the petition reads, "Asking Netflix to drop this dangerous television series is the right thing to do. Please sign this petition, then share it as a way to warn other friends, family, and church members about the dangers of '13 Reasons Why.'"

The petition demands that Netflix pull Season 1 from its library and cancel the premiere of Season 2 altogether.

So far, the petition has received over 50,000 signatures.

Anything else?

This isn't the first time that children have taken their lives following a viewing of the controversial Netflix show.

Two California families have also blamed Netflix for the suicides of their children.

Of the show, one of the teens' parents said, "It’s very graphic, especially the two-minute scene where she slits her wrists in a bathtub. I feel it’s dangerous for that small percentage of young adults who the show can become a trigger for them and I feel as if the show gives only one alternative for cyber-bullying and other teenage issues."

"Netflix is showing children how to commit suicide,” the parent added.

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