Thirteen Reasons Why isn't the first book, show, or movie about bullying and suicide to reach an audience. In 2011, the movie Cyberbully came out on ABC Family. It starred Emily Osment, also known as the actress who played Lily on Hannah Montana, and it details her character, Taylor, getting cyberbullied by other kids at her school. Taylor chooses to post a video suicide note when she can no longer handle the pain, and she attempts suicide through swallowing a large amount of pills. Because Taylor posted the video online, her friends were able to stop her, but just because Taylor did not commit suicide doesn't mean her story isn't important.
It has been commented on social media that "people shouldn't need shows like Thirteen Reasons Why to point out that they should be nice to people." It is true that it shouldn't take a show to make people realize that being nice is necessary and that bullying is a real issue in our society, but shows and movies like Thirteen Reasons Why and Cyberbully publicize and shine light on the issues of our society.
Our society stereotypes, bullies, racially profiles, kills, and everything in between. It shouldn't have to take a show for some people to realize that their words have meaning, but if that is what it takes for those ignorant individuals to turn over a new leaf, then so be it.
I am sick of living in a cruel, hateful society where children, teens, and adults are pushed to the point where they can no longer live on this Earth anymore. Everyone deserves to live out the amazing life they have built for themselves or the future that lies ahead. There are young children taking their own lives because they cannot stand to bear the hate, bullying, or rumors that surround them every day. No one should have to give up their life because they feel so buried under grief.
Social media is flooded with meme like "Oh you did this, welcome to your tape" and such things anger me because Hannah's reasons for taking her own life were dreadful and could have been avoided. Hannah Baker was not a drama queen who took her own life for attention. She was hurting, and she made these tapes so the people that caused her suicide knew what impact their words and actions had.
Suicide is not a joke. Rape is not a joke. Peer pressure and getting drunk are not jokes. What happened to Hannah Baker and Taylor Hillridge is not a joke. Suicide is a serious subject, and it should be handled as so. These shows and movies do not glamorize suicide as some people on social media may claim. The reality of the death and near-death of these girls shows how deep pain and regret can run through those around them.
Life is such an important object. Lives are created and destroyed every couple seconds. We are only granted one life. None of us will ever know what happens after we die, so to take away the one life we are born into is detrimental. Life is precious, and no one should ever be pushed to the point where they take their own away.
The choices we make, the words we speak, and the actions we preform contribute to the lives of those around us. We can never truly know the impact we make in someone else's life, even if they voice it to us, there will always be a small part we'll never know.
It only takes one act of kindness to make someone's day. Just think, if one less rumor had been spread about Hannah Baker or one person hadn't commented something rude about Taylor Hillridge, their lives could have been saved.
Be the person that saves someone from ending their life, and advocate for those who were forced to take away their own pain.
