Thirteen Reasons Why

Since having kids I’ve done a lot of thinking about bullying.  I think about how to teach them it’s wrong and how to share the possible consequences of pushing someone too far.  I also worry about my own children being the victim of such behavior and it terrifies me.

Now that I have friends with kids who are in middle school and high school, I’ve found the most surprising part of the equation is the lack of intervention by the schools.  At least in the private ones.  It has even become a plot line in one of my books, which wasn’t planned when I started writing it.  But with teen suicide and school shootings on the rise, I’ve been craving more information on the topic.

Last night at 8 o’clock I began reading a book called Thirteen Reasons Why.  By 11 o’clock I had finished it.  It was mesmerizing, incredibly paced, and haunting.  It’s the story of a teenage girl who commits suicide and leaves a series of cassette tapes behind detailing the 13 reasons why she did it.  And each reason is related to one individual who did something large or small that sent her life snowballing out of control.  In the first tape, she instructs the thirteen people involved to listen and pass them along to the next individual.  Everyone involved will hear in her own words what they did that hurt her so badly and made her desperate enough to end her life.

Though the book is technically about rumors and how one lie can have widespread effects, rumors are a form of bullying.  I want my children to know that and I will probably hound them every day trying to determine if they are torturing or being tortured when they’re out of my sight.  I don’t care if they think I’m annoying.  It doesn’t matter if they find me overbearing.  At least they will know I care.  And who knows?  Maybe one day, one simple conversation will be the moment they want to talk about it.  Not just about bullying but about anything that’s going on.

This book will stick me forever.  I might even force the boys to read it someday.  I highly recommend it.  It’s by Jay Asher and was just released in paperback this week.  So pick it up and step into the world of Hannah Baker.  You won’t soon forget it.