I teach middle school, and SO MANY of my students are obsessed with "13 Reasons Why". It's really opened a lot of their eyes to the fact that what they do and say can have a huge impact on their peers. I love that. I think it's awesome that they are realizing bullying is real and can have dire consequences.

What I DON'T like, is now a lot of my students believe in this notion that if they are nice to the "sad" students, all their problems will go away. That's not true at all. Yes, bullying can have a large impact on a depressed person, but it is far from the source of the issue. The source is the fact that people with depression, anxiety, bi-polar, etc. have a mental disorder that needs a specific treatment course.

When I was in high school, one student killed them self each year. When I was in college another tried. A few years later, my great Uncle killed himself. All through high school I worried about two of my best friends killing themselves. I removed countless knives, broken mirror pieces, pills, etc from their rooms. I have seen enough of this to know this is NOT simply caused by bullying, or lack of friends, or support. Every single one of these people, was so well liked, had no enemies, and was supported and loved. And they knew that. Yet they still attempted or did take their own lives.

The idea that kids being nice to eachother can fix this epidemic is so disheartening, because it makes kids who are suffering feel like they are the problem, because they cannot blame it on bullying. It makes them confused and ashamed. It deters them from getting help.

This show is great, but along with it, we NEED to spread the truth behind suicide and mental illness so we can actually fix this problem.