The Impact Of 13 Reasons Why On Teenagers´ Mind And Behavior
You don’t know what goes on in anyone’s life but your own. And when you mess with one part of a person’s life, you’re not messing with just that part. Unfortunately, you can’t be that precise and selective. When you mess with one part of a person’s life, you’re messing with their entire life. Everything. . . affects everything. Anxiety, and depression are now real issues among teenagers, they even see it as the biggest of their problems and it is only rising. According to Pew Research Center survey in 2019, seven-in-ten teenagers see mental health as a major problem and 55% of them see bullying as another problem. Bearing this in mind, a simple commentary or joke that might seem insignificant can affect everything just as Asher´s point of view, no one knows how an actions or simple words can get to affect someone and 13 Reasons Why portrays that more than any other show, it is not in vain that 62% of teenagers surveyed declared that the show was a precise depiction of high school
13 Reasons Why does more than just preventing suicide, it also promotes a change in behaviors by portraying the simple truth of high schools and some cruel acts that now are taken as normal; not being enough with that it also portrays the consequences of such acts, how it can really affect a person beyond of what can be seen. It leads to a reflection with what you see and what you hear, that is why language plays a really important part here because thanks to those chosen words the viewer, teenagers can empathize, can reflect and can change the way they behave or treat others. Sometimes it takes, one strong consequence to change how we behave and 13 Reasons shows a wide range of those, because it is a program there has to be drama but that does not mean that the situations portrayed there could not ever get to happen.
Once again Northwestern University research is helpful to identify which are the scenes and the specific use of language inside 13 Reasons Why that might have had an impact in teenagers´ mind in order to better understand tough topics and even in their behavior around high school.
Of all teenagers surveyed, 78% declared that the show helped them to better understand how their actions can impact others, some things may look meaningless, jokes, but no one really knows what can happen after that action was made. One of the people Hanna mentioned in her tapes was Alex, her friend that put her name on a silly list classifying girl according to their “best” and worse” physical characteristics. Hanna´s name was in the section of “best ass”. Later when Clay listens to that tape he thinks: “I didn´t think it was that a big deal.” “It was a silly list”, Hanna thought the same but, things took a sudden turn when Bryce sexually assaulted Hanna on a store trying to confirm what was written in the list, Hanna finished the tape saying: “It seems like nothing. Until the hurricane hits. Because when you put my mane on that list, you put a target on my […] You made an open season on Hanna Baker.” This is one of the scenes that might have guided teenagers to a reflection.
The effects that the show caused in teenagers´ behavior were big; according to the survey 73% of teenagers were trying to be more considerate about how they treated other people, 58% reached out to a friend whom they thought might be struggling with mental health concerns in school. Also, half of them reached out to a friend who has been bullied in school and to someone to apologize for how they had treated them. One scene that might have influenced could be the one inside season 3 where Clay reaches to Tyler because he noticed that he refused to be touched. That scene is heartbreaking and is the beginning of Tyler´s healing process. In that scene Tyler tells Clay what happened to him in tears: “He... he...smashed my head on the mirror and on the sink. And then, he and... Taylor and Kenneth... they held my head in the toilet. And... Monty, he got a mop, and he... He pulled my pants down, and he put it... in... [voice breaking] ...in me. And he... pushed it in my hole, and... and in and out, until I was... bleeding, and they… And they left me on the floor.” Scenes of this nature can open up a lot of concerns, motivating teens to reach out to a friend that could be struggling, that could only need to share their story to start their healing process.
In conclusion, the fact that the series “13 Reasons Why” do affects teenagers and how they behave have always been true, although not in a bad way, at least not mostly as major believes around mental health experts. Indeed 13 Reasons Why involves a great deal of rough issues, perhaps they are way too overwhelming for some teenagers by the way it is depicted and the choice of language but that might be what teenagers really need to see these days for their better understanding, beyond what their eyes can see around their high schools. Certainly, 13 Reason Why impacted the way teenagers behave in a great extent, but it was more positive than negative.
