amandarlopez02
- Dec 6, 2021
- 4 min read

Degrassi: The Whole Generation (Part 2)

The Degrassi Junior High did a great job of introducing its young viewers to the challenges and struggles of making the change from being a kid to being a teenager with more consequences for their actions. Degrassi High School makes the move of growing with its viewers and giving them a more mature setting and deals with even more mature topics. Although offsetting to some viewers, this is the reality that many youths can face themselves.

Warning Spoilers Ahead!!

Degrassi High School

Degrassi High School makes the transition of their characters going from junior high to high school. We get to see how they struggle to fit in with the more mature older students while keeping true to themselves, just like any other teen tv show. But what makes this show different is that they also present you with topics that teenagers may face at that time that many refuse to acknowledge and talk about. Some of these topics may include aids, suicide, and abuse.

Abuse

Abuse. It's not something every TV show talks about and when they do, they may not show it to the full extent. Degrassi however wants to show and teach its viewers the reality of what may happen in life good or bad. One example of abuse they introduced early on in season one. We see one of Degrassi's regular characters Kathleen Mead develop a relationship with an older classmate, Scott Smith. At first, we are led to believe that Scott is a gentleman with Kathleen. Their relationship grows and we see them grow closer and take the step from just dating to being in a relationship. But that's when the relationship starts to change. We see Scott over time become more and more impatient and angry with Kathleen over the smallest stuff such as being late for meeting him after school. It gets to the point where he starts getting physically rough with Kathleen. Weeks later its revealed that Scott was abusing her physically as well. After weeks of taking and finally an intervention from her close friends, Kathleen finally had the courage to not only leave Scott but also call the cops on him.

This is just one example Degrassi uses to show the many types of abuse one may face. They take the time to show the signs of abuse and how it can happen to anyone. They also show how it can go unnoticed by many and how abuse is something that doesn't just start over night but can just get worse over time.

Depression and Suicide

Depression is a common topic in many shows, but suicide is a topic that I feel many shows don't talk about. One infamous episode is the depression and eventually suicide of a student, Claude Tanner. Claude is a very troubled student who is dealing with a bad breakup, the divorce of his parents, and feels like everyone is against him. All of this leads him to fall into a serious depression. We get to see this whole story unfold through the eyes of all of his classmates so many signs that are obvious to the viewers at home are not so obvious for the characters in the show. When we finally see the suicide it's a shock for everyone but the viewers who saw it coming. The matter of how his death took place is a different story though.

Degrassi, although a tragic story, shows the harsh ugly reality of suicide. We get to see the signs that may present but are reminded they are not easy to spot nor are there always signs of someone being suicidal. We also see the consequences of his death, the pain that many of his classmates go through. Many of his classmates are shocked and have to take therapy to help deal with the sudden loss of their classmate.

image via https://degrassijuniorhighreviewed.wordpress.com/tag/claude-tanner/

Aids

One of the most controversial topics at Degrassi High chose to talk about on this show was that of AIDS. During a time of a lot of confusion and a lot of fear, this Degrassi decided that it was time to inform their viewers more about AIDS. Early on in the season, we get introduced to the character Dwayne Myers. Dwayne was your typical popular kind of mean guy jock. Degrassi made the decision to give the storyline of aids to Dwanye, the character no one thought this would happen to.

After losing his virginity over the summer, Dwayne is devasted when he is confirmed to have contracted HIV through his fling. He questions the doctor on this was possible if he was straight only to realize that this can happen to anyone, not just to the LBGTQ community. At first, he decided to keep this to himself but falls into a depression soon after. Dwayne eventually opens up to his close friends and warns them that it can happen to anyone, but they ridicule him and reveal his secret to everyone. It ends on a bittersweet note though, as his story was revealed to the school, it taught a valuable lesson about HIV and AIDS to the school and it showed them how the myths about them were not so true.

Degrassi wanted to teach their viewers the truth about HIV/AIDS and they did a great job. Although there was backlash on the show for making this decision, they also received a lot of praise for taking the time to teach and spread information to many of their viewers worldwide.