Wednesday 26 April 2017

V is for Voiceless Victim



Vacant, Void, Vexed, Visibly Vanished,
Viscous Verdicts, Values Vanquished
Is this what it's like to be the
Voiceless Victim?


I'm watching 13 Reasons Why.  I know I'm not the demographic it was aimed at but I am "enjoying" it - if that's the right way to describe something about teen suicide?  I think it gives the appropriate attention to the fall-out on the adults and the teens it depicts but I don't know because luckily for me I've never had anyone close to me who took their own life.  But I do know what it feels like to be a child who feels suicidal because I once was that child.  Age 11.  There...that is something I have never told anyone. 

Luckily, I kept thinking what would happen to the people I left behind and I decided that I couldn't do that to them.  I had changed primary schools at Easter for the last term before secondary school and I hated my new school mainly I think because I had loved my previous school.  I didn't fit in, I had no friends. I was becoming pre-pubescent. I felt I couldn't tell my parents because I knew how much the move had meant to them.  I was alone and therefore I just didn't want to go on anymore.  If I say, I opened high-up windows and found razor-blades and leave it at that. 

It was an awful period but I got through it and when I went to secondary school I left behind those children and that school ethos and made good friends and had a wonderful time.  And no-one ever knew because I didn't want anyone to.  And that's why, when I watch 13 Reasons Why, I think they have it right about the victim being voiceless and unable to tell anyone what she is going through - to make the true connection person to person and get help - because it is so hard.  
I don't have any answers and these are only my own thoughts - I am quite happy to have comments but I also know this is a very sensitive subject so please write considerately.  Thank you.

8 comments:

  1. I think you have got through very well those bad times. I applaud you. Thanks for sharing something so personal to you. Excellent "V" post.
    Yvonne.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The thought of teen suicide turns my brain inside out. In my country, the numbers are on the rise because of academic pressures piled on by parents in addition to the usual isolation and angst and the soul-corroding loneliness that often comes with this period in a child's growth. We need to be aware, alert and supportive.


    Thank you for sharing your experience so candidly.

    Nilanjana
    Madly-in-Verse

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes I do feel exam pressure is at an all time high and in the scheme of things we rarely live the rest of our lives on the exam marks we achieve.

      Delete
  3. Hi Senco - I'm sure it's fairly prevalent as a thought process, just desperate when someone decides to take their life. I imagine having a back-story of your own - those 13 reasons make more sense for you ... and we should learn from seeing the programme and the reasons ... cheers Hilary

    http://positiveletters.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/w-is-for-whistlejacket.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am nearing the end of the series now so will no doubt find out what the end message is and if lessons are learned that can be learned.

      Delete
  4. I watched that series and it was well done. You discussed this wisely. As a teen it is difficult sometimes to see that a rough patch will go away.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If only the old self could go back and tell the young self it will be alright in the end?

      Delete