We recently asked the BuzzFeed Community to tell us examples of teen shows handling serious topics badly. Here are some of the eye-opening responses:
🚨 Warning: Spoilers ahead!! 🚨
Note: The following contain mentions of sexual assault, eating disorders, suicide, and other sensitive topics.
1. First, when Blair had a miscarriage and it was basically just never mentioned again on Gossip Girl:
2. When Hannah and Mona's eating disorders were never properly addressed on Pretty Little Liars:
3. When Becky brought a gun to school on Glee:
4. When Brick's statutory rape was used just for laughs on Insatiable:
5. When Cheryl attempted suicide and never received any help afterward on Riverdale:
6. When the severity of Marley's eating disorder was never properly addressed on Glee:
7. When Aria and Ezra's student-teacher relationship was completely romanticized on Pretty Little Liars:
8. When Spike attempted to rape Buffy and it was used for his character development on Buffy the Vampire Slayer:
9. When Kelly's friend Amanda's eating disorder was resolved in one episode on Beverly Hills, 90210:
10. When Betty's mental health issues were explained by her having the "serial killer gene" on Riverdale:
11. When Sabrina blackmailed the jocks with photos of them making out after the witches tricked them into believing they were kissing girls instead of each other on The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina:
12. When Emma's OCD was portrayed stereotypically and treated like a joke on Glee:
13. When Maya was framed as being in the wrong for protecting Tristan from a predatory teacher on Degrassi: The Next Generation:
14. When Landon woke Hope up from her sleeping beauty curse by kissing her in her sleep, even though they had just stated the importance of consent in the previous episode on Legacies:
15. When Nathan was implied to have purposefully crashed the race car, and then never received any serious help in the aftermath on One Tree Hill:
16. When Chuck punched the glass and left a cut on Blair's face on Gossip Girl:
17. And finally, the entirety of 13 Reasons Why:
Do you know of another poorly handled teen TV show moment that wasn't included on this list? Tell us about it in the comments below.
Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity. Not all submissions were from Community users.