Teenagers share what they really think about Adolescence 

Adolescence has been watched by millions (Picture: Netflix)

Netflix’s latest series Adolescence has become a national talking point with its hard-hitting but truthful look at the prevalent manosphere and its potentially dangerous consequences. 

The drama created by Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham follows 13-year-old Jamie (Owen Cooper) as he is accused of murdering female classmate Katie (Emilia Holliday).

The whydunnit exposes Jamie’s disturbed set of views about women, which become most clear when the teen is assessed by clinical psychologist Briony (Erin Doherty). In one tense moment, the youngster claims he should be admired for not sexually assaulting Katie before killing her. 

The influence of extreme misogynist Andrew Tate -a sort of frontman for the anti-women content online – is mentioned during the investigation. Eddie and Manda (Stephen and Christine Tremarco) also admit their son spent hours on the internet alone in his bedroom, alluding that this contributed to his attitude.

Although the four-part series is fictional, it is inspired by the alarming increase in real-life knife attacks. Ministry of Justice convicted or cautioned upwards of 18,000 knife-related crimes over one year – 17.3% of the offenders in the attacks are between the ages of 10 and 17. In the same week as Adolescence’s release a 15-year-old boy was found guilty of the attempted murder of a 14-year-old girl with a samurai-style sword during a Halloween camping trip.

Get personalised updates on all things Netflix

Wake up to find news on your TV shows in your inbox every morning with Metro’s TV Newsletter.

Sign up to our newsletter and then select your show in the link we’ll send you so we can get TV news tailored to you.

While many have praised Adolescence’s unflinching exploration of the complicated topic, it begs the question, what have younger viewers made of the show as it attempts to reflect some of their reality?

The series is fictional but inspired by real-world issues (Picture: Ben Blackall/Netflix)

Speaking to Metro, Alex, 18, calls Jamie’s actions ‘disgusting’ but adds that unfortunately the character’s attitude is not unfamiliar. 

‘The way he acts and speaks is what I’ve witnessed from people around me. He gets angry when the girl says no to dating him, that entitlement, I definitely see that.

‘A lot,’ he quickly adds.

‘I’ve had a friend send me a misogynistic video and tell me to watch it. That was the point I stopped speaking to him.

‘I’ve noticed such a change in my friends when they became involved in consuming that kind of stuff to the point they are not the people I want to hang out with.

‘Even people who don’t watch the videos can end up in an indoctrinated state because the culture is everywhere.’

However, Alex is keen to highlight that it’s far from everyone that thinks this way, with some of his classmates even calling out people for spreading the viewpoint.

Isobel, 15, was struck by how Adolescence reflected the impact social media has on young people today.

‘What felt really truthful was how much it is a big part of the school children’s lives. I don’t think adults always understand that,’ she explains.

‘I’ve been told to spend less time on social media but it’s easier said than done because although it has its bad parts including people using it to intimidate each other, you also miss out if you leave completely. We’ve had assemblies at school to try and get a handle on it but they can’t really do anything about it.’

Teenager Isobel says the language used in the series is also very real. ‘What also felt accurate was the way they use words like frigid and incel to insult each other,’ she says. ‘Even though Jamie got rejected I didn’t feel any sympathy for him, only Katie. I found it intriguing to find out about his motivations – but also upsetting.’

Isobel tells Metro that she has made a point of speaking with male classmates who idolise figures who share anti-women messaging and having purchased the feminist book Women Hating by Andrea Dworkin with her own pocket money, she feels confident poking holes in their arguments.

‘There was a period a few years ago where a lot of boys talked about Andrew Tate in a positive way. I had to say something,’ she says. ‘They usually didn’t have much to say back.’

While Isobel says she understood the editorial decision to mention Tate directly, Jack, 15, feels that the controversial figure isn’t as influential as people think any more. ‘Nobody seems to care about him now,’ he says matter of factly.

Tate was mentioned during a police visit to Jamie’s school(Picture: Alon Skuy/Getty Images)

In one episode, investigating officer DI Luke Bascombe (Ashley Walters) learns that the emojis and red pills commented on Jamie’s Instagram by Katie was her way of calling him an incel. The scene has since sparkedwidespread panic about the secret meanings behind the emojis – however, not all teens are aware of them, insists Jack.

‘I didn’t know about the red pill and all the emojis until I watched the show, but then I don’t really hang around in a crowd that might use,’ he says.‘It was really intense to watch. My main takeaway was not to have anything to do with knives or people like Andrew Tate, and it’s just not worth sending or sharing nudes. 

The adults don’t fully understand the teenagers’ language (Picture: Netflix via AP)

‘Katie had bullied him and I didn’t really understand why she did that other than to just be mean – but she certainly shouldn’t have been killed for it. It felt like a waste of so many lives.’

Parents are grappling with raising young people in a tech-addled masculinity crisis. 91% of people own a mobile phone by the time they are 11* – and therefore have access to potentially harmful content. Nikki and Ted know this all too well – they’ve raised a teenage girl and their son is still in that unique chapter of time.

‘I found the whole show quite scary. We think we know our kids but there is a possibility we don’t at all. It made me feel really sad,’ says Nikki.

Ted adds that he was particularly moved by the ‘look of disbelief on Eddie’s face’ when he saw the video of Jamie beating Katie as it highlighted just how much of a stranger his own child was. 

‘When Stephen’s character kissed his son’s teddy and said “I’m sorry, I should have done better” I felt heartbroken,’ recalls Nikki. ‘I’m such a fretter anyway so it made me glad I always check in with my children.’

Their son Mase, 19, said the show was an ‘accurate representation’ of how boys can behave, but the extreme violence is not something he has ever encountered and so he found that part ‘disturbing’. However, he still thinks it’s worth parents paying closer attention to what is going on with their children to prevent things from ever reaching irreversible consequences.

‘They need to be more vigilant about what their kids are looking at online, especially because of how easy it is to access anything that you search,’ he warns. ‘It shouldn’t be as easy as it is to access anything on the internet.’

Ted highlights that can be difficult as it felt like their children ‘went upstairs to their room at 13 and emerged at 18.’

Some parents found the scenes hard to watch (Picture: Netflix)

‘Adolescence showed that it doesn’t really matter how good you are as parents, you can be decent people, but the power of social media can just completely take over somebody’s mindset and that’s terrifying,’ says Nikki. 

Dr Nihara Krause, who is part of the British Psychological Society believes the show has inspired such strong reactions as it’s a ‘kind of terror experience’ for parents.

‘It shows the potential vulnerability of their children and how that might impact them,’ she explains. ‘There’s danger, fear, and threat. It’s very timely because there is so much about online harm and boys’ mental health now. It has struck a chord.’

However, Dr Krause notes that we should ‘give young people credit’ and remind ourselves that what happened in Adolescence is a very rare occurrence. She also adds that teenagers have control over what happens next. 

‘Rather than be like “this is my reality” they can think it doesn’t have to be my reality,’ she says. The show could be the perfect time for parents and children to begin an important dialogue.

‘This is a good opportunity for parents to have conversations with children about what they are accessing online.  

‘But children are much more influenced by their real-life relationships, so working on being healthy role models and reminding them the difference between right and wrong is going to be the best way to address the issues raised, rather than panicking.’ 

*Statista

Adolescence is available to stream on Netflix now.

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing [email protected]