“A lot of you cared, just not enough”.

Netflix released a series this April that has played through the electronic devices of many, and it has certainly left a long-lasting impression on their minds and hearts, including my own. The protagonist of the show, Hannah Baker, makes the choice to take her own life, and she leaves behind a set of tapes, each depicting one of the many reasons she chose to do what she did. She was the new girl at a new school, starting out with no friends, and she quickly turned into the biggest talk of the town. One kiss with one stupid boy, one event lead to many which ended in Hannah slitting her wrists in her own bathtub, taking her last breaths and ending her life forever.

As gruesome as that sounds, it is real. Suicide is real, and no matter how uncomfortable it makes some of us feel, we need to talk about it. This show depicts what it is like for a girl who walks the halls filled with rumors and whispers surrounding her, most being of things that were so far-fetched they were comical, and many can relate to the way she felt each and every day. She smiles on the outside, but on the inside, her heart is slowly crumbling piece by piece, and each day is a challenge, a question of whether or not life's worth living anymore. There is no one sign that shows someone is suicidal or going through a tough time, and more often than not, there are not any signs; there is just a mere smile across their face, and they are going about their lives like any other prior moment in time.

One small act of cruelty can lead to another, and when one single individual lets all of these remarks and actions add up in their mind and bottle up their feelings, they will eventually break, and sometimes the break right in half, and there is no way to fix it. Hannah was past the point of repair, and she believed that the only way to find happiness again was to move on to another life and take herself out of this world. She tried time and time again to find a reason for life to be worth living, but all of those people who crowded her world gave her even more of a reason that it wasn’t each time she opened her eyes in the morning and looked back at herself in the mirror. She saw a girl who wasn’t good enough, who did not deserve to walk upon the same ground as her peers. She let the opinions of the population she resided in rule her, and those people ultimately led her to the decision she made. They led her to suicide, and she cannot change her mind, what is done is done. For her suicide was an option, and the option she chose to follow through with, leaving behind her family and the few true friends that she did have, but never put in enough commitment to prove their loyalty to her.

We need to be kind to one another. We need to prevent a world that causes people to think suicide is the only option. Suicide should never be the only option. We can not let people feel alone, we can not let people think that they do not matter. Words hurt, and no matter how cliche that sounds, it is absolutely true. You never know what someone is going through, despite the smile and laugh that they may exhibit towards you and others. I am not saying that everyone has to be best friends with everyone else, what I am saying is that no one should feel the amount of pain that Hannah Baker felt, no one should feel that they are alone against the world, fighting off the demons that are trying to tear them down.

I can personally attest to the fact that feeling like the world is against you and the only option sometimes seems like leaving this earth, is an awful feeling, but it is real, it happens. For many reasons, we can not just stop these feelings from flowing through some individuals. However we can simply make sure they know we recognize them, and that they do belong on this earth and have a purpose, whether they have found that purpose yet or not. We have to talk about it, we have to spread awareness and advocate for the ones who are silent and struggling, not just the ones who voice their sadness. Most of all, we need to be there, we need to give people a reason to live, we need to give people a reason to believe that their life is valued and their breath is worth breathing.

In the series, Hannah says on her last day on earth, “ A lot of you cared. Just not enough”. We need to care, and we need to care enough for not only ourselves but for everyone around us, because life is short, and for some, it is even shorter. Watch Thirteen Reasons Why, because it shows what is truly going on within the walls of high schools all over the world, in the lives of your children, and in the lives of parents we would have never expected to be struggling. Suicide is real, bullying is real, these struggles are real, and it is the time that we take the initiative to not only comprehend it all but talk about it.

If you are anyone you know is struggling do not hesitate to reach out for help. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is open 24 hours every day for help and guidance and is a great resource for those in need of immediate assistance. Call to contact the nearest available suicide prevention and mental health service provider, (1-800-273-8255)

Always remember, you are not alone.