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Jordanian Netflix series ‘AlRawabi School for Girls’ garners mostly positive reactions

By Batool Ghaith - Aug 15,2021 - Last updated at Aug 15,2021

‘AlRawabi School for Girls’, a teen drama series written, produced and directed by Jordanian women, Tima Shomali and Shirin Kamal, revolves around school students and the problems they face in school, most importantly bullying (Photo courtesy of ‘AlRawabi School for Girls’ Instagram page)

AMMAN — The Netflix original series “AlRawabi School for Girls”, which was released on Thursday, received mostly positive reactions from Jordanians. 

“AlRawabi School for Girls”, a teen drama series written, produced and directed by Jordanian women, Tima Shomali and Shirin Kamal, revolves around school students and the problems they face in school, most importantly bullying.

The series has been the number one most watched in Jordan on Netflix since its release on August 12. 

The series’ hash tag has been trending on all social media platforms.

Despite a few critiques, positive reactions to the series have been abundant. Jordanians, as well as Arabs from different countries, have expressed how pleased they are with the series. 

Leen Meqdadi, 17, expressed her satisfaction with the series. She said that it represents 80 per cent of what happens daily in her school.

“I related to the characters very much. Almost every student gets bullied at some point in their school life and the scenes were very realistic. I am proud that it is a Jordanian production,” Meqdadi told The Jordan Times on Saturday.

Sama Al Karim, 20, described the series as “a masterpiece”. “As a Jordanian woman, it is amazing to be able to watch a coming of age drama created and directed by fellow Jordanian women. It is such an honourable experience,” she told The Jordan Times.

Karim noted that the series made her “reflect back” on her high school years, as she had suffered from bullying. 

“I believe it is important to highlight such issues. Bullying leaves permanent psychological impacts on people,” she said.

 “This is a great way for parents to know what their children might be going through so they can deal with it the right way,” she added.

Mariam Sayid, a parent of a ninth grade student, praised the series on Twitter.

“I applaud the directors and writers of the series for shedding light on the social behaviours in our society, regardless of the place or social class,” she tweeted in Arabic.

Sayid indicated that her daughter faced bullying from some of her classmates. “My daughter suffered from this [bullying] for a while. I am grateful that I was able to help her and I hope that this series encourages parents to pay more attention to their children and give them the support they need,” Sayid tweeted.

Some did not approve of the series and claimed it “does not reflect the Jordanian community”.

However, others held the view that the series provided insight to many social phenomena other than bullying, such as sexual harassment, exploitation of minors through social media, family disintegration, so-called honour killings and the importance of mental health.

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