Pupils call for hit drama to be shown in schools

Students in Sheffield have called for the Netflix drama Adolescence to be shown in schools to help pupils understand the dangers of social media, knife crime and toxic influencers.

Adolescence, created by Jack Thorne and actor Stephen Graham, follows the case of a 13-year-old boy charged over the killing of a female classmate, and has received critical acclaim and huge ratings for the streaming service.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he watched the series with his teenage children and said there may be an "issue with young boys and men" around toxic masculinity.

Year 9 pupils at Meadowhead School have been offering their opinions on the show to the BBC and sharing experiences of social media.

Marissa, 14, said the themes in the programme felt "relevant" to her.

"I think it was beautiful, the way it was shot and that they used normal kids so it felt natural, unique and true to real life," she said.

"I use a lot of social media and have three brothers. I worry it's easy for them to get radicalised. I'm not sure my parents understand that so I do try and steer them."

Marissa believes showing the drama in the classroom would be "beneficial".

"I think it should be shown in schools and not hidden. Maybe they could break it down into digestible scenes rather than showing all the violence but it's important for kids to watch."

Thorne, who wrote the Netflix hit, earlier this week called on the PM to take action to deal with the "crisis" happening in schools.

He urged Sir Keir to "rather urgently" consider a smartphone ban in schools and a "digital age of consent", similar to Australia, which has passed a law banning children under 16 from using social media.

"I think we should be doing what Australia is doing, and separating our children from this pernicious disease of thought that is infecting them," he said.

Ruben,14, admitted that he watched approximately eight hours of social media on his phone every day.

"I think a ban would be difficult. I mainly watch cooking videos on YouTube because I want to be a chef, not Andrew Tate's stuff."

When discussing the controversial social media personality, Ruben said: "He wants people to follow what he thinks, some people need someone to look up to and they find that online.

"I think people think he's powerful and want to follow him to have that power."

The teenager also thought it would benefit young people to show the drama within school.

"I think it would be good to show it here to show the importance of not being radicalised."

Shauna Giblin, an English teacher at Meadowhead School, recognised some of the behaviour in the hit drama.

"I think behaviour has progressively got worse in schools," she said.

"When boys start in year 7 they are often timid and respectful but the older they get the more out there things become.

"I'm worried about social media, screen time can be so high, some pupils watch eight to 12 hours a day."

As for showing the programme in school, Ms Giblin thought teachers should take a "cautious" approach.

"It's an interesting one, you don't want to make pupils afraid of the world," she said.

"Perhaps short snippets would help us to have important conversations around the clips."

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