The content warning is a thoughtful addition by the “Stranger Things” team, especially when one of the major themes throughout the series has been to staunchly criticize the U.S. government, the military-industrial complex, and the way children are used as pawns by the adults who are supposed to be keeping them safe from harm. El/Eleven/Jane was introduced to us as a child who discovered she had been kidnapped, experimented on, and raised in a secret laboratory. As we learn throughout the course of the seasons, the reason Jane was found with “011” tattooed on her wrist was that it was her designated test subject number. She is not the only one of her kind, and there are other children who were taken and forced to train to prepare for borderline militaristic situations without their consent.

As someone who has unfortunately had to facilitate Active Shooter/Run.Hide.Fight. Procedure drills to elementary schoolers, I can say with the utmost authority that “Stranger Things” is not far off in its messaging. From the start, the series has shown the detrimental effects of forcing children into traumatic situations in the way Eleven struggles to acclimate to the real world. This difficulty exists for so many kids across the country, but they aren’t equipped with superhuman abilities to protect them. School children should be making friends, finding their way as humans in this world, and getting a quality education, not being forced into life or death situations because adults in power refuse to take any action that results in their safety.