Off Campus

Netflix’s Off Campus is great to watch for book lovers, parents, and mature teenagers. I like that it seems like a nostalgic college teen romance, but has much more to it than we first see. I never expected the amount of depth and layered challenges when I first heard about it.

Off Campus introduces us to the fictional Briar University, where we see Hannah, a music major, and Garrett, the star hockey captain, and their lives on campus. In the beginning, it is very much the way we expect a college love story, but later on we see all the issues and problems Hannah, Garrett, and their friends face growing up.

First, we can talk about financial pressure. There are several kids who face money problems, which is an important issue to talk about for teens as they are transitioning into college and jobs. Being independent means being financially independent as well, and handling college life and the reality of financial pressure at the same time is something they will experience. So we can talk to our teenagers about what they would do if they experienced financial pressure and if living alone and being independent is something they feel ready for.

Another thing the show handles in a very understanding way is family trauma and not talking about it. Garrett’s difficult relationship with his father shows how hard it is to live with an abusive parent, especially if everyone outside of the family thinks that he is a hero. What we can do is talk to our teens and ask them what they would do if someone they care about was going through something toxic or unsafe at home, do they think they would notice it, and how would they react to that. The other thing is how they would make sure that our home, and later their home, is always a place where nothing feels too heavy to talk about. This can help to make it very clear that safety starts with open communication.

What is a big theme in Off Campus is not being believed when a survivor comes forward and feels traumatized again because nobody believes them. They feel the trauma again and have to relive it over and over again and face disbelief and denial, or even worse, being accused of being a liar. We can talk to our teens and ask them why they think that the fear of not being believed is one of the biggest reasons people choose to stay silent about abuse and how they can ensure that they are the kind of friends who make them feel safe and believed.

But the most important thing to talk about for me is the impact on the loved ones standing by a survivor. This is something that is rarely talked about, and I appreciated that the show actually touches on it. When someone goes through trauma, the people closest to them, partners, friends, and family, can feel very helpless. They often feel like they can’t do anything and that emotional weight is heavy. Wanting to help and not being able to is maybe the worst feeling, and at the same time they have to be strong for their loved one. I think this is an important talk to have with our teens and ask them how they think they should support someone they care about who is going through something traumatic, without getting hurt themselves.

What I don’t like, and even think is not needed in this beautiful show, is the large amount of highly visual sexual content. For me, it would be a much better show without these parts, because it really is about so much more than young people having sex.

Off Campus is a great show, with even more layers than mentioned: being in love with your friend’s partner, athletic pressure, college pressure, and much more. I think it is worth watching it with our mature teenagers, but only if you are comfortable watching the adult content in it as well.