Thriteen Film

The film gave many powerful messages that anyone not just middle school teaches could learn from. The first is learn to be very observant, in the film the young lady Tracy showed many signs that things were wrong and that she was headed down the wrong path. Teachers spend more time with kids these days than their own parents do. The science teacher in the movie if he was observant would’ve notice things change about his student. If he had noticed the hints that Tracy were giving, he could’ve taken the necessary step to get her the help she needed.

The next message is realizing that although the students are only twelve ND thirteen years old, they are going through a lot of different issues. Learn to understand what your child may or may not be going through. In the movie Tracy had many issues, from her parents getting divorced to not being liked in school. These issues in turn caused her to cut herself as a way to feel pain and also feel the need to hang with the wrong people. These choices she made were the start of her downward spiral from an honor student to having to repeat 7th grade. The next message is educating students, this is for both teachers and parents.

Both must teach the students what’s right and wrong, as far as under age sex, the use of drugs and many other matters. In the movie the students believed that since there was no act of penetration, that they didn’t have sex. When in turn there are many was to engage in sexual acts and not have that penetration. As parents we have our own issues and problems, but we must set them aside and open our eyes and pay attention to our kids. In the movie, Tract’s mom was recovering from substance abuse as well as just going through a divorce. She also was struggling to make ends meet in her current profession.

These issues blinded her to the fact that her daughter was in deep trouble and suffering from her own problems. If her mom would’ve just paid more attention, these problems could’ve been averted. By simply caring and paying attention to Tracy from either her teacher or mom, this young lady would’ve been able to stay on the right path and stay away from trouble, but mistakes from adults have tremendous effects on kids these days. If you only care about how a student performs in your classroom and not about how they are outside of school, then you have lost the battle before you start.