Thirteen----John

Watching Thirteen, I found myself shocked by the speed with which the main character, Tracey, transformed from an innocent young girl to a manipulative, deceitful, drug abusing, thief. I think her transformation is a testament to the power of peer pressure and the extreme desire to fit in and be accepted by a popular crowd. to me, one of the saddest aspects of the film was that Tracey already had friends and decided to abandon them in the blink of an eye. While I do not think this was unrealistic, it would be even easier to believe that a transformation like this would happen to a young person that did not already have friends/a support structure to rely on and feel safe with.

There were many themes that ran through this film that reminded me of parents and kids I have encountered. One theme being a parents' desire for their kids' approval. Instead of acting as a parent (which can include the role of disciplinarian) Tracey's mother, Mel seemed to be more focused on her own issues, and being a friend to her daughter instead of a mother. Because this was the prescedent she set when she did try to crack the whip Tracey easily avoided or ignored her attempts at punishment or her feeble attempts to communicate.

Another theme was the predatory behavior exhibited by Tracey's friend Evie. Evie seemed to always have a story/excuse/lie ready to go if she was ever questioned on anything she did. Whether it was "Brooke is out of town for a conventin," or "I was helping Javy because he spilled a Coke on his pants," or even something as simple as "We did our homework during a free period at school," she is an expert manipulator and cries "Wolf" so often that nobody will come to here aid when she actually does have a real life crisis. In this way Evie reminded my of a character named "Telly" from another movie about troubled teens called Kids (1995).

There were many common themes between the two films including drug use, lack of parental supervision, predatory sexual behavior and violence.

As counselors, hopefully we are able to spot the warning signs exhibited by students like Tracey and Evie early so that we are able to guide them back to a path that will, at the very least, be less self-destructive than the one the may head down without our help.