Degrassi: The Next Generation

TW: SH, rape, cancer, abortion, alcoholism, and abuse. Please do not read it just to support me if any of these are triggering to you, your health and safety always comes first.

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Let me preface this with: I have not finished the entire series, I am only partway through season three out of fourteen so this may become a series. It will take some time to decide for sure.

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The first version of the show that I saw was Degrassi: The Next Class on Netflix. When I found out about the older versions of it, I looked for a while trying to find them just to see which I like more. So far, I would say it is about the same. I have watched The Next Class time and time again. I would finish all four seasons in two days.

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One of my favorite things about the show is the ability to accurately portray serious issues that, until pretty recently, were not talked about. They were suppressed by way too many people dealing with them. Some still are but others have been brought more into the light. So far in the show, many of the topics have been very heavy.

These will not be in order because my memory is not good. I will list all of the ones I am able to remember though.

There were two episodes where one girl, Emma, was catfished by an older man who pretended to be a teenage boy. She would have ended up hurt if her friends hadn't gone through her emails and told her mom, who got to the hotel they met at before he did anything to her.

In another episode, Terri got a boyfriend, her first one, and he was physically abusive towards her. He grabbed her wrist tight enough to leave marks, slapped her across the face causing bleeding, and also was love bombing her.

In two more episodes, Craig was being physically abused by his father. When his father died in a car crash later on, he had very conflicting emotions. He seemed unbothered at first but eventually broke down due to the emotional distress that he had been suppressing.

One of the most heartbreaking things that happened was when Paige, a young teenager, was raped at a party by someone she thought she liked. As soon as he ignored her saying, "No," those feelings were gone. It was hard for her to get help but she was eventually willing to talk to the school counselor and, if I'm remembering correctly, even got a restraining order or order of protection against the rapist.

One that I deeply related to was when Ellie, around 14-15 in the episode, began to cut herself due to emotional stress. Her mother was an alcoholic while her dad was serving in the military. The stress got to her and when Paige found out, she began getting help from the school counselor, with support from Paige even though they aren't really friends, more like acquaintances.

One of the teachers, who married Emma's mom, was diagnosed with cancer. As he went through chemotherapy, he lost his hair. Even though high schoolers are cruel, rather than making fun of him, the whole class pitched in to buy him a wig as a Christmas gift. As someone who lost a close family member to cancer and saw her struggle, them working together to help him warmed my heart.

When Emma's mom got pregnant, she considered abortion. She didn't want to tell the baby's dad, even though they were getting married and loved each other because she was afraid. She didn't go through with it and had a healthy baby with support from everyone around her.

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I know there was a lot more but I am blanking on what there was that happened. I started a while ago and stopped for a few weeks to try to help my mental health. I then changed my mind and started watching it again.