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‘Adolescence’ Will Be Used in UK Classrooms to Address “Incel” Culture and Youth Misogyny

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The creators of the Netflix phenomenon “Adolescence” have ignited an important dialogue about protecting children from violent misogyny and harmful social media influences, resonating strongly across Britain and internationally.

This week, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer met with the show’s producers at Downing Street to discuss child protection measures. Starmer strongly supports Netflix’s initiative to provide free access to the series in secondary schools nationwide, aiming to maximize its educational reach.

“Adolescence,” which premiered in March, has quickly become one of the UK’s most influential recent dramas, accumulating over 66 million views globally. Filmed in England, the narrative revolves around complex issues arising from the tragic murder of a teenage girl allegedly committed by a 13-year-old classmate. It critically examines the role that hidden social media interactions, often beyond parental and teacher oversight, might have played in fueling violent behaviors.

Starmer, reflecting on watching the show with his teenage children, described the experience as challenging but vital. He believes sharing the drama in schools “ will help students better understand the impact of misogyny, dangers of online radicalization and the importance of healthy relationships.”

“It seems like the whole nation is talking about ‘Adolescence’ and not just this nation. As a dad, I have not found it easy to watch this with children because it connects with the fears and worries that you have as parents and adults. There isn’t one single policy lever to pull. It’s actually a much bigger problem than that. And that’s the devastating effect that the problem of misogyny has on our society.”

Jack Thorne, co-writer of the series, emphasized that sparking meaningful conversations was a key intention behind the production.

“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.”

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Thorne initially began working on the project roughly two and a half years ago after actor Stephen Graham, who stars as the accused boy’s father, reached out, deeply troubled by a series of violent crimes where young boys had stabbed girls to death. They initially struggled to find motivation for Jamie Miller, the central character portrayed by Owen Cooper, until an assistant suggested investigating the culture of incels—men who self-identify as involuntarily celibate and harbor resentment towards women online.

Thorne described spending six months immersed in incel forums using a burner phone and new social media accounts, uncovering disturbing beliefs. He discovered the troubling arithmetic of incel logic—the belief that 80 percent of women were attracted to just 20 percent of men, pressuring young men to manipulate women to gain relationships and sexual partners. This research, he said, left him deeply concerned about his own son, now eight, encountering such toxic ideas online.

Graham emphasized that the show intended to reveal the ordinary circumstances underlying horrific events. Rather than quickly blaming family backgrounds when youth violence occurs, Graham urged society to consider a broader perspective.

“What if it’s not the family? We’re all maybe accountable. School. Society. Parents. Community.”

Soma Sara, founder of Everyone’s Invited, a charity dedicated to exposing sexual violence and what she names as “rape culture” among children, highlighted alarming data indicating these issues emerge even among children under ten years old. Misogynistic attitudes may be difficult to change by the time children turn 13.

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The organization has documented thousands of troubling testimonies from girls and young women detailing harassment, groping, assault, sexist name-calling, and abuse occurring on school premises. Around 1,600 of those cases occurred in elementary schools.

“The testimonies show how early this starts, and how it’s children abusing children — that’s just the devastating reality.”

She argued against outright bans on social media for minors, calling them unrealistic. Instead, her organization advocates comprehensive education in schools, teaching young people how to critically evaluate the pornography, misogynistic content and harmful stereotypes they are exposed to online.

“We feel the generational gap has never been wider. Parents need to be digitally literate themselves, and understand all these apps — Snapchat, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok — because that’s what your children are spending hours scrolling.”

The remarkable impact of “Adolescence” coincides with heightened scrutiny over the damaging effects of smartphones and social media platforms, especially given the prominence of controversial figures such as Andrew and Tristan Tate, who encourage misogynistic perspectives and face serious charges of human trafficking and exploitation.

Recently, Gavin Stephens, Chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, stressed, “The harmful effect of Tate is plain to see.”

The UK’s police currently record over a million incidents of violence against women and girls each year—constituting one-fifth of all reported crimes.

Sara concluded, “What ‘Adolescence’ makes clear is that when young people are implicated in violence, accountability extends far beyond individuals. We all bear responsibility.”

Transforming Lives Through Positive Psychology | Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein

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Mental health has become a cornerstone of well-being in today’s fast-paced world. It’s not just about managing life’s obstacles; it’s about finding purpose, embracing happiness, and thriving despite challenges. Positive psychology is a field of study that focuses on the strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive. Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein, a true luminary in this holistic approach, has left an indelible mark on the field. Her accomplishments as an author, filmmaker, and psychologist are a testament to her unwavering dedication to helping others find true happiness.

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Study Claims Social Media Harms Teens’ Health by Interrupting Positive Activities

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There’s no question that frequent social media use has become a virtual cultural necessity, especially among young people. Social networks that were for millennia supported by face-to-face interpersonal relationships now exist mostly online, and such a drastic shift has raised concerns about how social media use impacts mental health. The science on this subject is far from settled; while some studies show that social media can actually improve teens’ sense of social engagement, others have found that young people are feeling increasingly isolated and depressed, likely in part as a result of distorted perceptions of others’ lives precipitated by social media. Amidst this controversy, a new study, published on Tuesday in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, examined the relationship between mental health and social media and found that it is more complicated than commonly assumed.

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The study was impressive in scope, as it involved interviews with nearly 10,000 English children between the ages of 13 and 16. Researchers found that social media can have a particularly negative effect on girls’ mental health, not only because it increases their likelihood of being victimized by bullying, but also because it gets in the way of sleep and physical exercise. According to the researchers, social media itself does not harm young people’s development, but an overuse of online social networks can result in harmful consequences. As such, the researchers believe that strategies meant to decrease teens’ social media use may not be effective alone, and that strategies designed to reduce cyberbullying and improve sleep and physical health are likely more effective. The study also found that while boys also experience mental health challenges, these challenges are generally not linked with social media use, suggesting that more research on how social media affects boys’ mental health is needed.

The study’s finding of association between frequent social media use and mental health problems matches other research that has been conducted on the subject, such as a study published last year that found a link between the amount of time teens spend looking at screens and their probability of having depression. That being said, psychologists have stressed that the content of one’s social media experience is likely more predictive of mental health problems than frequency of social media use by itself, noting that there are many ways social media can promote mental health, such as strengthening social ties and exposing young people to others’ points of view.

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Other studies have corroborated the finding that girls are more strongly negatively affected by social media than boys. A study published in The Lancet found that girls who used social media for more than five hours a day were 50% more likely to have depressive symptoms than girls who used social media less frequently, whereas boys who used social media for the same amount of time per day only had a 35% increase in depressive symptoms. That being said, neither study can prove that social media use causes depression, as it may instead be the case that people who already have depression are simply more likely to use social media excessively than people who do not. According to this study, girls were both more likely to report depressive symptoms and to use social media more than three hours per day.

While more research needs to be done to determine the reason for this gender gap, psychologists have suggested that it may have to do with the different types of content boys and girls engage with online. Girls are more likely than boys to focus on their physical appearance when using social media, which might mean girls are more likely to develop body image issues by comparing their appearance with others. Accordingly, Instagram, which is an app that in large part revolves around sharing pictures of oneself, has been found to be the most detrimental social networking service for young people’s mental health, followed by Snapchat, which is used in a similar way. For their part, Instagram has taken steps to try to reduce the negative psychological effects of its platform, starting with hiding the number of people who have liked a user’s picture to prevent social comparison that can leave people feeling isolated and inadequate.