Book Cover of "13 Reasons Why" by Jay Asher
Over the weekend, I watched the Netflix Original series that was based on the book. The Executive Producers for this series were Brian Yorkey, Diana Son, Tom McCarthy, Steve Golin, Michael Sugar, Selena Gomez, Mandy Teefey, and Kristel Laiblin. Like every movie or TV series that are based on a book, there are a few changes in details that happen so it does not copy the book completely. In the book, Clay listens to every tape within the course of a night, but in the TV series, it takes him several days to complete all the tapes. This was an important change so that way it could make it the length of a mini-series.
Poster for the Netflix Original series version of "13 Reasons Why"
I find with a lot of things that talk about bullying, they don't really go into detail about bullying so the media does not really help with the issue of bullying. Having said that, "13 Reasons Why" (both the book and the movie), go into great detail about how bullying can affect the life of the victim, especially to the point where they commit suicide. There a few types of bullying according to bullyingstatistics.org, which are physical bullying, emotional bullying, and sexting. The book and TV series does a great deal at showing how each type of bullying can cause someone to go to the point of suicide. A lot of times, the global society does not talk about bullying and suicide because of how uncomfortable it is to talk about. But if we want to progress (and we need to progress), we need to talk to each other about important issues.
According to the National Bullying Prevention Center, about 20.8% of students have reported bullying and that only 36% report the bullying. This means that 64% of students that are being bullied are not reporting, and this number is too high. There are a variety of reasons why students don't report being bullied, and I was one of those that didn't report the bullying that happened to me. My anecdotal reason as to why some students don't report bullying is that the administration does not do anything and that the bullies act worse when they are found out to have been reported on. Another reason as to why someone might not report being bullied is that the adult that is supposed to be trustworthy is a bully as well. As adults, we need to be able to listen to the youth and our peers that go through bullying and we need to stand up for them so they do not go through bullying anymore, or the side effects of bullying. In fact, some signs that someone is being bullied, according to stopbullying.gov, are unexplainable injuries, property that is lost or destroyed, frequent headaches or stomach aches/feeling sick/faking illness, changes in eating habits, having difficulty sleeping, declining grades/skipping class/not wanting to go to school, sudden loss of friends or avoiding social situations (especially when they are normally extroverted), lower self-esteem or feeling helpless, and self-destructive behavior like talking about suicide/self-harm/running away from home.
According to the CDC, about 4,400 young people die per year because of suicide and for every suicide that happens there are about 100 people that attempt suicide (making the number of suicide attempts 440,000 attempts per year). A study made by Yale University reports that bully victims are 2-9 times more likely to commit suicide. There was a study that was made in Britain that reports that half of all suicides are caused by bullying and that the largest group of people that commit suicide are 10-14 year old girls.
If you find that your peer, friend, child, loved one (depending on the type of your relationship with the bully victim) is being bullied, there are a few things you can do. Please stand up for them. Help them get help. Even being a good shoulder to cry on and to help them can help. If they are showing signs of self-harm, please get them medical attention. Do not demean them in any sort of way.
If you or someone you know is feeling hopeless/helpless/thinking of suicide please contact your National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
Resources: http://www.bullyingstatistics.org/content/bullying-and-suicide.html
http://www.pacer.org/bullying/resources/stats.asp
https://www.stopbullying.gov/at-risk/warning-signs/
