For Yorkey, the reaction to Tyler's assault is exactly why he felt a scene like this was so necessary. "When we talk about something being 'disgusting' or hard to watch, often that means we are attaching shame to the experience. We would rather not be confronted with it. We would rather it stay out of our consciousness," he said. "This is why these kinds of assaults are underreported. This is why victims have a hard time seeking help. We believe that talking about it is so much better than silence."
He went on to add that the research they did on male-on-male sexual violence in high school further supported their decision.
"When we dug into that research, I think we were all astounded to find how many times this happened," he said, "this disturbingly similar story of a male high school athlete violating a weaker boy with some sort of instrument like a mop handle or a pool cue." Read Yorkey's full statement here.
In addition to adding new, custom warning video messages from the cast at the top of each episode, Netflix also made more resources available to viewers on 13ReasonsWhy.info. This includes a viewing guide for parents and videos of the cast — as themselves, not their characters — discussing important topics like depression, consent, and drug abuse and how to get the necessary help and support you need.