I have seen this story before, in Joyce Carol Oates' short story, "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been" (read the full text here, check information and criticism relating to the story here, and you might want to see the movie version, Smooth Talk, starring Laura Dern--it's a so-so movie in a way, but I won't forget it). In Oates' story, Connie is a young teen (fifteen?) who is driven to become an adult before her time--she takes all sorts of risks to win the attention of an older man, in the end finding that what she wanted was not at all what she thought it would be. Like "thirteen," it is an uncomfortable story to encounter.

In the book, The Romance of Risk: Why Teenagers Do the Things They Do, Lynn E. Ponton addresses the conflict for parents of adolescents: parents have themselves gone through the difficulties of adolescents, but they fear admitting their experiences to their teenage kids--this is in conflict with those moments when adults laugh about the things that they did when they were younger. Ponton points out that risk-taking is essential for growing up. Without it, kids won't develop and be prepared for adult life. The key is to teach kids how to evaluate risks and decide which risks are worth taking (not so easy when you consider that kids don't always have a good grasp of their mortality).

As a high-school teacher I am scared for my students, some of whom are still Hello Kitties, and some of whom show their struggles by looking like the Tracy at the end of the film. I want to help my students avoid the over-the-edge risks that Tracy takes, but I am somewhat in a bind. Rightfully, this is the responsibility of parents. Regrettably, parents aren't always responsible. Many teachers avoid the topics presented in "thirteen" altogether, avoiding potential controversies and parent complaints. It's not always so clear if sex, drugs, suicide (and so on) are a appropriate topics in a high-school English class. While they are clearly a topics in the hallways and in the students' lives, some parents would protest if it were in the classroom, not wanting their children "exposed" yet at their age (are they foolishly sheltering their kids? It's very hard to figure out where to draw the line age-wise--and keep in mind that in a given class, there are all kinds of levels of maturity. They are fooling themselves if they think that their kids aren't exposed to it elsewhere). Nevertheless, I do try to pass on sound advice when "thirteen" type topics come up in the texts that we read (e.g., Holden Caulfield's encounter with a prostitute; the bawdy, drunken behavior in The Great Gatsby; suicide in the movie, Dead Poets Society; and so on).