13 Reasons Why has been on my radar since it came out on Netflix. When the book came out for YA, it really didn’t strike me as something to pay attention to because I compared my own history to it. While I struggled with issues such as self-injury and suicidal ideation during my adolescence, the books that I read that hit on these issues never really drove me towards wanting to commit the act itself. Rather, the stark words across the page gave me some comfort that maybe I wasn’t alone, or that what I was doing wasn’t uncommon.
Then the television adaptation occurred, shorter-term studies have been released, depression, anxiety and rates of suicide have increased among our teens and children and now we’ve decided that this show MUST be the apex of the problem.
Honestly? I get the concern. A is also struggling with SI, depression and anxiety, and I noticed that this popped up on her Netflix watch list, so I figured I might as well take a dive in and see what the fuss is about. I get that there were moments when I was younger that I might have used this as a visual confirmation of everything I was hoping – revenge, people understanding how they hurt me, the realization that THEY were the cause of my pain and eventual death – and so I empathize.
When Bridge et al released their study highlighting a correlation between the release of 13 Reasons Why and an increased incidence in suicide among 10 – 17 year olds, the information was presented by a lot of outlets in a manner that suggested causation, and the sensationalist headlines were shared and reshared across social media. In a few different groups that I am in (including some that are not related to parenting in any way), the articles made their way there and mothers and fathers poured out their fears that their child might be using the show as a guide.
We hear a lot about suicide in our youth, and for important reasons: Suicide is now the most common cause of death in teens. The average age of suicide is decreasing. The aforementioned increases in anxiety and depression. And now a study shows that we need to exercise caution regarding exposing children and adolescents to the series.
Interestingly, the Bridge study showed that the suicide rate increased much more in boys than girls, however the suicide rate among ages 10 – 19 has been higher in boys than girls historically. A cross-sectional study of suicide in the US from 1975 through 2016 wanted to explore the disproportionate increase in suicide rates among female youth found that even though male rates of suicide are still higher, female rates are increasing at a rapid pace, especially in younger individuals.
For me, this highlights the importance of speaking with our young men and boys regarding mental health, and ensuring that we aren’t just looking at our girls when we discuss these types of issues. There’s long been a conversation about toxic masculinity and how these leads to silence among men regarding mental health, and how that silence is passed down generationally by examples of those men that boys look up to.
I’m not here to rehash that, but rather to say that I am guilty of this, too. I paid attention to 13 Reasons Why because of a girl in my life, and not because of the children in my life. This is merely to serve as a reminder that it’s crucial that we ensure that we are protecting all of our children because it’s worrisome that suicide is killing our children more often than anything else. It’s a tragedy and we need to do better in ensuring they are aware of the fact that help exists and that they can ask us for it anytime.
Cardinal Point 