The Importance of ’ 13 Reasons Why ’ and It ’ s Reflection of Teen Mental Health

This article does include spoilers for the Netflix series “13 Reasons Why”. On March 31, 2017 Netflix released a new series titled, “13 Reasons Why”, based off the book by author Jay Asher. This series depicts a young man, Clay Jensen, and his journey to bring justice for his friend Hannah Baker. Hannah, a seventeen-year-old high school junior with nothing but the future before her, took her life on a seemingly calm afternoon. Why is this important? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that in individuals between the ages of 10 and 24 years old, suicide is the third leading cause of death. Ten years old, people… they are still our babies at ten years old. Why are we not heartbroken over this? High school is supposed to be full of fun, your last years of irresponsibility before stepping out into the big, scary world of adulthood. Unfortunately, this is not the case for many of our teens walking the halls of our high schools today. Teen bullying has been in the media somewhat frequently lately, especially cyber bullying. Several studies have shown an association between school bullying and depression and suicidality among teens as well as with risk for personality disorder in adulthood along with externalizing behaviors and mental health care utilization (Messias, 2014). Even with this information we still sweep bullying under the rug. Cyberbullying gives home access to what was once a safe haven for our children. “13 Reasons Why” portray...
Source: World of Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Children and Teens Depression Minding the Media Movie Review Research Self-Esteem Students Success & Achievement Suicide Trauma 13 Reasons Why bullying Harassment High School Netflix Rape sexting Sexual Assault sexual a Source Type: blogs