Dear Editor,

I am writing on behalf of headspace to ad- dress growing concerns raised by schools, parents and young people across Australia about some content featured in US Netflix series 13 Reasons Why.

The series – which debuted in Australia in late March and is currently streaming on Netflix – depicts a young woman who sui- cides. It presents the viewer with very con- fronting and graphic messaging and image- ry inclusive of suicide method and means.

Since its debut both the national head- space School Support Program, which sup- ports school communities in the aftermath of a suicide, and eheadspace, the national online and over-the-phone counselling ser- vice has received a growing number of calls and emails directly related to the program.

The show exposes viewers to risky sui- cide content and may lead to a distressing reaction by the viewer particularly if the au- dience is children and young people.

National and international research clearly indicates the very real impact and risk to harmful suicide exposure, leading to increased risk and possible suicide conta- gion.

Clinicians working for eheadspace have been dealing with a steady stream of con- cerned parents and young people since the show first aired.

There is a responsibility for broadcasters to know what they are showing and the impact that certain content can have on an audience – and on a young audience in particular.

headspace School Support and ehead- space is urging school communities, par- ents, and mental health services to be aware of the dangers and risks associated for children and young people who have been exposed to this content.

The national suicide media initiative, Mindframe, also has significant concerns and warnings related to this content.

Please see the following links for help- ful information for schools, mental health services, and parents if they are aware that children or young people have been ex- posed to the content and have expressed concerns around their own mental health, distress, or suicidal thoughts and feelings.

Kristen Douglas National Manager headspace School Support headspace

Managing social media following a suicide: https://headspace.org.au/assets/Uploads/ Corporate/Managing-social-media-follow- ing-a-suicide-web.pdf

Grief – How a young person might re- spond to a suicide: https://headspace. org.au/assets/Uploads/Corporate/Grief- How-young-people-might-respond-to-a- suicide-web.pdf

We have another bumper edition of 16 pages this week celebrating amazing women, a silver anniversary, new technology and life in Forbes.

Seniors Week starts today and we were very fortunate to meet an extraordinary woman. Please read our Reporter, Dianne Collie’s story about Rene Francis on our front page and feel inspired. There is also a full program of events for the Forbes Seniors Festival on page 11.

The inspiring woman who took the brave step to start the Phoe- nix Group of Newspapers (including the Forbes Phoenix), Cheryl Newsom, has decided it was time to hand over the reins. Read her story on page 4.

Midpro, an independent Forbes business, is celebrating its 25th anniversary. Read about they joy Bart and his team find in technol- ogy on page 8 to 10.

The Forbes barefooters did the town proud at last weekend’s big event, while the Forbes Aquatic Centre impressed many visitors.

With the cooler weather taking some pressure off us, we can make time this weekend to be thankful for the many blessing we have. Let’s be grateful for grandparents and what we can learn from them.

Enjoy Issue 83! Maggi Barnard, Editor

We have something in common this week: we survived the hottest day on record in Forbes! According to the Weatherzone website the temperature reached 46.7 degrees Celsius on Saturday. The previous highest temperature was in 2004 with 44.6.

We hope you took care to look after el- derly neighbours and relatives, as well as animals during the heat. It is not yet over – we are going for 40 degrees today. Please stay vigilant, especially when working with machinery that can spark a bush fire.

We start our new Bush Telegraph column on page 5 today for the communities of Trundle, Tullamore and Bogan Gate. Thank you to everyone who sent us contributions.

We hope you felt some love on Valentine’s Day. Take time this weekend to feel grateful for the love you have in your life and for letting you feel what it means to truly be alive.

Enjoy Issue 81! Maggi Barnard Editor

We all have a song, poem or quote that makes our hearts go warm.

I think Leonard Cohen’s ability to craft lines that can make you love, laugh, cry or despair is incomparable, and I want to share this line with you for Valentine’s Day: “We are so small between the stars, so large against the sky/And lost among the subway crowd, I try to catch your eye“ – Stories of the Street.

We would like to welcome readers from Trundle, Tullamore and Tottenham on board from today. The exciting news is that the Phoenix is spreading our wings, which means The Forbes Phoenix will be available every Friday at the outlets as listed under Snippets on page 3. We would like to invite contributions from these areas we can in- clude on a regular basis.

Our ‘electronic’ doors are also always open to your feedback and comments.

Enjoy Issue 80!

Maggi Barnard Editor