‘Adolescence’ gets support from British leader as schools across UK will show series
LONDON — The makers of hit Netflix show “Adolescence ” have sparked a conversation on how to protect children from violent misogyny and other harmful content on social media.
Now they have the ear of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who welcomed the filmmakers to Downing Street on Monday for talks on child protection. Starmer’s office said he backed an initiative by Netflix to stream the drama series for free to secondary schools across the country, so that as many children as possible can watch it.
The show, filmed in England, explores the difficult questions that arise when a 13-year-old boy is accused of stabbing a girl in his school to death. It has been watched by more than 66 million people worldwide since it launched earlier in March.
Starmer said it was difficult watching the series with his 14-year-old daughter and 16-year-old son. But showing it widely in schools will “help students better understand the impact of misogyny, dangers of online radicalization and the importance of healthy relationships,” his office said.
Starmer added in a statement: “This isn’t a challenge politicians can simply legislate for. Believe me, if I could pull a lever to solve it, I would.”
Jack Thorne, a co-writer of the show, said the team behind “Adolescence” made it to provoke a conversation.
“So to have the opportunity to take this into schools is beyond our expectations,” he said. “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.”
Stephen Graham, a co-creator of the drama who stars as the boy’s father, has told The Associated Press he wanted the narrative to focus on the seemingly ordinary life of the accused.
He said that when a knife crime among young people takes place, the first reaction may be to question the background of the murder suspect and how they were raised.
“But what if it’s not the family?” he asked, adding: “We’re all maybe accountable. School. Society. Parents. Community.”
The success of “Adolescence” has come during growing concern over children’s use of smartphones and the easy availability of pornography and extreme misogynistic content on social media pushed by influencers like Andrew Tate. Tate and his brother, Tristan, who are dual U.S. and British citizens, face charges of human trafficking and forming an organized criminal group to sexually exploit women.
Gavin Stephens, chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, warned last week that “the harmful effect of Tate is plain to see.”
Police in the U.K. are now dealing with more than a million crimes related to violence against women and girls each year, or a fifth of all recorded crime.
