Notes On Watching Adolescence: Why Parents Should Be Worried

This is not a review, but my reflections on Adolescence, a show on Netflix everyone is talking about. Filmed in one-take style, people are calling Adolescence a ‘near perfect’ show – a masterpiece in acting. The show on knife crime among school children has left the UK Prime Minister extremely worried. Filmmakers like Hansal Mehta and Shekhar Kapur are praising the storytelling and Alia Bhatt is in awe of the miniseries. The four-episode show is exactly how Stephen Graham (co-writer and the actor playing Eddie, the dad) reflects on it - it’s like throwing a stone in water and creating ripples. And the ripples are disturbing.

Owen Cooper, who plays the role of Jamie will leave you breathless with his act when you realise that this is his first attempt in front of the cameras and that each episode is shot in one take. The rawness of his innocence in a surreal situation is phenomenal. In episode three, when he tries every trick in his adolescent capacity to intimidate the psychologist, the teenager blows your mind and melts your heart in equal measure. 

Notes On Adolescence

Based on a real story, Adolescence is a thought-provoking drama that provokes conversation. You can’t zip through it. You have to sink in. As each issue unravels like the intricate pleating of a turban, the series made me reflect and regurgitate about adolescence, schools, rejection, social media and more.

1. The show made me think about schools where overburdened teachers are struggling with the repercussions of social media. It also made me think about parents who don’t understand teen psyche and are not in tune with internet lingo. Teenagers navigate a digital world that remains largely incomprehensible to most adults. Frankly, I had to Google words like the ‘Incel culture’ and what different colour heart emojis mean. For any gullible teen, raging hormones, peer pressure, grades, sex, and rejection, coupled with social media can be a very slippery slope.

   

2. Adolescence made me think that raising boys is not easier than raising girls. More importantly, we have to teach our boys to deal with rejection from the opposite sex. Boys need a reminder that rejection is a natural part of growing up and not a personal attack. Rejection comes in many forms during adolescence and can seem life-altering leading to low self-esteem or anger. 

3. The show made me realise that online bullying can scar impressionable minds in ways we can’t even begin to imagine. Just because a child does well in school, doesn’t drink, smoke, answer back or slam doors, we think he is out of trouble? Unfortunately, not. Watching Adolescence also made me realise that despite caring parents, loving family, good grades and decent upbringing, things can go wrong. I wonder, what should we do to protect our children?

They say it takes a village to raise a child. And if children are going wrong, the entire village is responsible - govt, parents, society, internet, lifestyles…It won’t be easy to untangle this complex web we have created. When Eddie, the father tucks Jamie’s teddy bear into the bed and murmurs, “I’m sorry son, I should have done better,” the screen blurred for me. We can do better. 

Views expressed by the author are their own.