"13 Reasons Why" is probably all you’ve been seeing on your timeline lately. Articles about why you shouldn’t like the show, why you should, why its bad and why it’s good have flooded the internet. The central theme of these articles is typically that the show is about bullying and a sad high school girl who kills herself and then wrongfully blames 13 other students and lets them know by sending some tapes around. And while this isn’t technically wrong, it’s not the full picture, there’s actually much more to the story than the bullying. Here are 13 things "13 Reason’s Why" also addresses:

1. Bullying

As I said, bullying is clearly the main theme of the show, but I’m confused as to why people are only talking about the bullying Hannah experienced? All of the kids are bullying each other and other students throughout this series, not just Hannah. The show isn’t just about how bullying affected Hannah it’s about how bullying affects everyone.

2. Suicide

Another obvious theme of the show that a lot of people don’t really seem to understand. While stating “It’s Hannah’s fault she killed herself” might seem true, it isn’t. It’s also not fair to say that it’s these kid’s fault Hannah killed herself. Depression is no one’s fault, especially if they don’t know they are battling it (which I’ll get to soon). The 13 tapes are Hannah’s way of telling her story, and while I agree she places some blame on the kids on the tape, she also spends a lot of time talking about herself and how she tried to fight back but just lost the will to. I think the main thing to recognize with Hannah’s story, and all stories, is that suicide is preventable, it’s not a blame game and Hannah’s suicide was certainly preventable.

3. Warning signs

The warning signs in this show don’t just revolve around Hannah. Alex, Jess, Justin, Clay and Hannah were all throwing up warning signs. Hannah’s warning signs would include: the note on the napkin, her poem, her conversation with the Counselor in episode 13, her letter to Zach and I’m sure I’m missing others. While Hannah might possibly be the only one who committed suicide, she wasn’t the only one showing signs of depression. All signs the school staff, friends, and a lot of viewers missed.

4. Education system

Hannah talks a lot about the education system in her tapes and how she feels it kind of failed her. But the education system didn’t just fail her in academics, it failed her when she cried for help and tried to tell the counselor what was happening and had happened to her and he barely did anything to try to calm her down or help. I wish I could say this reflection isn’t accurate and is over dramatic for the sake of T.V., but it isn’t and that’s something that needs to be addressed and talked about.

5. Mental health stigma

I see so many people saying that this show makes the stigma around mental health so much worse and I completely disagree. While the things that happened to Hannah may seem small to adults and college kids, they are a really big deal to someone in high school. Do I think mean girls and jerks caused Hannah’s depression? Absolutely not, but it is possible for those situations to trigger the emotions Hannah was feeling. From what I remember, Hannah never once uses the word “depressed” to describe her feelings, she uses words like “empty” “numb” and “I just need life to stop”. I don’t think Hannah was aware that she had depression, and that bullying just emphasized emotions she was already feeling – which is a reality of what happens to many teens. If anything this show is a solid reflection of what it’s like to be battling depression in high school and not know it.

6. Victim shaming

I don’t know about you all, but I’m still heated about episode 13. I’m still heated that every single person blames Hannah for the fact that she was bullied, they blamed her reputation (which they all created), they blamed it on that she was crazy or a bitch or that she was a new kid. Let’s be very very very clear: It’s NEVER the victims fault that they are bullied. If you are choosing to willingly be mean to someone, to damage their reputation or existing friendships, that is totally and completely on YOU, not them. This show does a beautiful job at showing what victim shaming is, but also how it really affects the victim and those involved (looking at Alex).

7. Slut shaming

GETTING RAPED DOESN’T MAKE YOU A SLUT. GETTING RAPED IS NOT YOUR FAULT. GETTING RAPED IS NOT YOUR MISTAKE. Do NOT listen to the Counselor, the guys in this show or anyone who defends Bryce. Do not defend Justin for sending that picture of Hannah around. Do not defend Alex for making that list rating the bodies of high school girls. Slut shaming is real and it has a lot of impact, so stop doing it.

8. Empathy

Besides Bryce, I think I felt some empathy for all the kids on this show. I don’t defend their actions, but watching them battle their inner demons and deal with what Hannah had done was very hard to do. I also felt a lot of empathy for Hannah, her parents and the school staff. I think empathy, and learning to be empathetic is one of the biggest lessons you can take away from this series. It’s certainly easy to judge people, and we all do, but at the end of the day you never know what someone is battling and you never know their full story.

9. Sex

From first kisses, to first times this show really shows the curiosity high schoolers have about sex. You have Courtney who is hiding her sexuality from as many people as she can. Bryce, who thinks all the girls want him and that he can have them. Hannah who treasured her first kiss and first time. And then there’s Justin, bragging in the halls about “getting some” even though he actually got none. The dynamic of all the different stories, how to stay safe and consent are a real and pretty big theme of this show, and a reality for many high schoolers.

10. Rape

13 Reasons Why had two rape scenes. Two rape scenes and one girl who tried to tell someone, and another girl who believes “we all know what happens when a girl tries to tell someone she was raped”. I don’t think I’ll ever forget watching the school counselor ask “well…did you say no? try to fight? are you sure it was rape?” This is not how you teach anyone to identify if they have been raped. I was never taught a lot about rape in high school, what it meant, what to do or anything. But I think this show opens up the conversation that maybe high schoolers should be taught how to have that conversation, especially before going to college.

11. Cyber Bullying

Bullying and Cyber Bullying are two different things. Bullying typically happens in school, while cyberbullying takes place on the internet or on cell phones. Cyber bullying and how it's not talked about is not a strong focus of this show, but it's there. The pictures being sent around, anonymously publishing things for others to see and how the school can't control it but how parents and students are being affected by it is not something that should be overlooked.

12. Lying

I feel like everyone (including Hannah) just lies to each other all the time in this show. Whether it be to their parents, teachers or friends they are all lying about something, and they are all facing some sort of consequence for their lies. I think the show does an awesome job of showing how scary it can be to come forward when you know someone or yourself did something wrong, but how much better you will feel about it once you do.

13. High school

Dances, new cars, big basketball games, college decisions and really just the road of high school and the ups and downs it has. While the show might be uncomfortable to watch most of the time, there are times that give you a chance to reminisce on happy (or sad) high school memories.