13 Reasons Why: A Lesson About Society That We Should Have All Known

‘Trapped
In the thoughts that linger through my mind
And I know my phone isn’t hard to find
You’re all one call away.
Everyone is just “a phonecall away” – right?                                            Yet my mind still feels so far away.
It feels so far gone that is scares me.
The feeling of emptiness consumes me.
Hugs me in ways that I feel suffocated every time someone just looks at me…
Laughs at me…
Taunts me…
Touches me.


But time has now moved on.
The tears from my eyes that I once despised I now miss because now, I feel nothing.
My rain won’t fall.
The beams from my rays of sunshine have stopped shining.
My moon has been engulfed by the darkness of my dreary skies.
Emptiness.
Trapped in the perpetual cycle of emptiness.
Nothingness
Nothing.’

The Netflix phenomenon 13 Reasons Why is so much more than a fictional tale of a depressed teenaged girl; it represents the cold-hearted, brutality of the 21st century’s society.

Many people only heard of this thought-provoking story, written by Jay Asher, now that it has hit Netflix. Others were made aware due to the various memes made from a serious message.

However,  I first heard of ’13 Reasons Why’ seven years ago, three years after Jay Asher wrote the novel in 2007.

I haven’t had the pleasure of reading the book, yet, but I have already listened to the tapes on YouTube; I cannot wait for everyone to hear what I have heard!

’13 Reason’s Why’ may be a series to do with a young girl who committed suicide, but it also raises many other social issues.

Through the character Justin Foley, we see how coming from a home where abuse and disregard is shown more than love can have detrimental effects on one’s self-esteem and maintaining relationships.

We see character Courtney Crimson dealing with her homosexuality, Alex Standall wanting to impress the “popular crowd” and, of course, the devastating cases of rape with Jessica and Hannah.

Lessons

This series demonstrates that, what may seem like the smallest things in our eyes can mean a whole lot more to somebody else.

Everyone is going through their own personal battles; without us knowing. Moreover, it shows us how the youth today undergo a tremendous amount of pressure from all social aspects, whether it be at school or at home.

There are so many things that can affect our mental health but it is not being spoken about enough, and it irks me.

From a young age, we are taught about how to stay physically healthy and the importance of this – but what about mental health?

I have never had a single lesson on the importance of mental health in my years of being in education. Is it because the maintenance of someone’s mental state cannot be generalised as much as physical health is in education?

I do believe maintaining a strong mental health is very individualistic. We all have different social groups and surroundings that act as contributing factors to our mental state.

However, one thing I do believe that every human being is capable of is showing love.

From studying politics, I have come to learn of how some philosophers and politicians viewed human nature, and those associated with conservatism believe we are indeed flawed; we are selfish and self-sufficient. However, those associated with socialism acknowledge our rationality and our capability to cooperate.

In today’s age, we are so quick to say how flawed we are as beings, but never quick enough to highlight that we are capable of being so loving, so caring, but do not fight for this side of us to come out more, but I am ready to fight for us – are you?

ONE MILLION PEOPLE COMMIT SUICIDE EACH YEAR. ONE MILLION. According to ‘WHO’, that equates to one death every 40 seconds/3,000 per day. When one individual is taking their own life, at least 20 are attempting to do so.

One million of us are taking our own lives every year…one million of us.

Our Society:

We are a society that loves to run.

We are in a constant race with one another to reach our end goals in life and forget about how those around us can get caught in the crossfire. Now is the time to fight for the positive side of our nature to prevail more than ever.

We are all incredible.

Taking Steps To Progress:

We all possess so much potential in ourselves and are born for a purpose, and we cannot continue to govern and live in a society where one million of us failed to see the potential they had. Speak more about mental health!

The more we talk, the higher the possibility it is taught in schools. We could literally save future generations by talking more and more about the importance of mental health now.

’13 Reasons Why’ has raised a big issue on mental health in today’s society, but it is now up to us to solve the problem…are you willing to?

‘There’s a fire that burns within me. Wanting to see change in a society where we’ve become deranged and deluded leading us to become separated and secluded.

We’ve become lost in the race to reach the goals we all aspire to achieve and forget about those who are still in desperate need. Mental health needs to be discussed globally. Socially.

Undoubtedly, if we all started an uproar, we’d make the importance of mental health more than just a cause, more than just a movement, but make it one step closer to a definite social improvement.

Let’s fight for the society we live in today in the hope of achieving better days’.

Guest Blogger