When Adolescence hit our screens in March, it’s fair to say the country went a bit mad for it. Since that point, there have been plenty of calls to make Adolescence available in schools to warn teenagers (and younger) about the dangers of toxic masculine culture in the UK, and now Netflix has teamed up with Into Film+ to make that dream a reality.
The harrowing one-take drama follows Jamie, a 13-year-old boy who is arrested for the murder of a girl in his schoolwith the truth transpiring across four heart-wrenching episodes. National treasure Stephen Graham plays Jamie’s father and ‘appropriate adult’, Eddie Miller, with Ashley Walters as Detective Inspector Luke Bascombe, and Erin Doherty is Briony Ariston, the clinical psychologist assigned to Jamie’s case.
Netflix UK said on social media: “From today we are making Adolescence available to all secondary schools across the UK through Into Film+.
Instagram post via @netflixuk
“Additionally, healthy relationships charity Tender will produce guides and resources for teachers, parents and carers to help navigate conversations around the series.”
Adolescence covers plenty of emotional and current topics and issues including the state of schools, incel (involuntary celibate) culture and everything that feeds it, misogyny, class, violence and so many more in subtle ways, weaving the complexities of the modern world into an amazingly shot and acted drama – hence why many have expressed that it should be shown in schools.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said following a meeting with Adolescence creator Jack Thorne that there is “no simple solution” or “policy lever to be pulled”, describing misogyny as “almost a cultural issue”.
The Prime Minister also suggested that showing the drama in schools would help pupils understand “the impact of misogyny, dangers of online radicalisation and the importance of healthy relationships.”
The meeting with Jack Thorne was set up to unpack “what can we do as a society to stop and prevent young boys being dragged into this whirlpool of hatred and misogyny” – something the availability of Adolescence in secondary schools aims to explore.
Following the meeting, Jack Thorne said: “We made this show to provoke a conversation. We wanted to pose the question – how do we help stop this growing crisis. So to have the opportunity to take this into schools is beyond our expectations. We hope it’ll lead to teachers talking to the students, but what we really hope is it’ll lead to students talking amongst themselves“.
Of course, being shown a Netflix drama in class may not eradicate the issue, but as seen in Adolescencehaving the raw conversation about misogyny and incel culture in an open environment can only be a good thing, and perhaps schools being able to show it will bring about those conversations.
You can watch Adolescence now on Netflixand schools that are interested in showing it in the classroom can find out more here.
