How could we forget about the days of Degrassi: The Next Generation? A lot of us grew up watching this teen drama, and some of us may have taken away many lessons from this. Although the series was jam packed with moments we will never forget, here’s 8 of them!
1. Rick shooting Jimmy
Well of course we all remember Jimmy, who was played by the well known and loved rap artist, Drake. How could we ever forget the very event that landed him in a wheelchair for the rest of his seasons? Rick was that smart kid that was always mistreated. After a cruel prank was played on him, he decided to seek revenge on Degrassi High. He came to school and shot Jimmy in the back after being convinced that he was behind the prank; although he was innocent.
2. Manny deciding to get an abortion
Degrassi was never afraid to broadcast touchy subjects that other shows wouldn’t. Manny’s decision to have an abortion after discovering she was pregnant with Craig’s child wasn’t even aired in the United States for years simply because most people deemed it unfit for teenagers. Reality is, this is something that happens. Teenage girls get pregnant every day and Degrassi made it clear that they believed that it was a topic that needed to be shown.
3. JT’s murder
We all loved JT from the first season we started watching Degrassi and he died over a simple school rivalry!? ON Liberty’s birthday?! This was completely shocking and heartbreaking. JT’s death was unfair and definitely unexpected. It hurt like seeing someone you really knew die. I don’t think I’d be lying at all if I said this brought most of us tears.
4. Spinner having cancer
When Spinner was diagnosed with Testicular Cancer. This showed teens that while growing up bad things can happen. It showed how your typical teenage boy was able to overcome a huge, and scary, hardship. With perseverance and help from his friends he was able to be fully cured and move on with his life.
5. The death of Craig’s father
Those episodes of Craig’s father constantly abusing and beating him were hard to stomach. Craig was a sweet kid but was constantly mistreated by his angry father. Although Craig didn’t like his dad much for all he put him through, his death still was awful and took a huge toll on Craig. It wasn’t predictable that he would suddenly die the way he did.
6. Emma gets her period
For all our very early viewers of Degrassi: TNG, remember that episode where Emma gets her period for the first time? Every pre-teenage girl had to eventually experience this day so when it happened to Emma and she talked about how it was nothing to be ashamed of, it empowered us as growing females.
7. Rape (Darcy, Paige, etc)
Rape is something that has happened a multitude of times since the beginning of Degrassi: TNG. The issue ranged from date rape to being drugged. Paige was raped while on a date with a cute football player she liked. Darcy was drugged at a party and remembered her assault in pieces. Rape happens to young women every day. Watching these characters work towards healing was absolutely heartwarming.
8. Liberty’s pregnancy
Liberty and JT getting together had to be one of the cutest couple moments to ever grace Degrassi. Her long time crush on him was always one sided and when he finally felt the same it was magical. Liberty, being a very much involved honor student was the last character anyone expected to get pregnant; as we could see from JT crashing his car when she told him. Her mature decision to give her baby up for adoption was another way Degrassi displayed how women have the freedom of choice.