*Trigger Warning: The following article speaks of heavy issues such as child abuse and neglect. 

On May 24, 2013, young Gabriel Fernandez passed away after suffering severe injuries resulting from abuse and torture. Now, light is shed upon his story in Netflix’s new documentary series, ‘The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez’. 

The series, directed by Brian Knappenberger, was released on February 26, 2020, consisting of 6 episodes narrating the 8 months prior to Gabriel Fernandez’s death in May. The show depicts the abuse the 8 year old went through, including being kept locked in a cabinet for hours, sprayed with pepper spray, punched, and shot with a BB gun.

“There was a purpose and it was a story we had to tell”, said Knappenberger. In other words, their main purpose for this Documentary series was to bring awareness to this topic. It’s something people don’t normally think about. Even when it happens to thousands of other children.

Now that we have gone over the basics of the series, the purpose of THIS article is to bring awareness to the question: Could this series make an impact or change to our society?

According to Marissa Perez, a family relative of mine who has seen the documentary, “I do believe a documentary like this can impact people and bring awareness to what is happening around us. 

Meanwhile, some of our timberwolves were asked the same question. Sydney Sherred, a freshman at MT. SAC ECA explained that “This could hopefully allow people to be grateful for the things in their life since there are others who go through way worse”.

After having watched this documentary myself, I believe that society can change. Tragic cases like this take place every day and it is up to us to make it come to a stop in order to bring justice for those like Gabriel.