That school episode in Adolescence

Dd is in y13 and says it’s the most realistic portrayal of secondary school that she has seen on Tv

I was in a large comprehensive school in the 80s and pre O levels it was un streamed and at least as bad minus the effects of phones and social media. Regular bullying and fighting and some kids sniffing glue in the back of lessons. All us swotty kids just kept our heads down and tried to avoid being picked on. I hated it.

@SuperSue77 Glad to hear it's worked out for you and your son.

My son in year 8 studies German and he said that a few pupils in his class said they couldn't speak a single word of German 😬

@prh47bridge You gave me advice on his secondary school appeal - we lost, but quite glad we did now as my son is loving German and they don't teach it at the school we were appealing for. His current school also let him flexischool, so he spends one day a week at home, 4 in school. It is really helping him cope with secondary.

I haven't watched it yet, so can't say directly. However, the things I have heard remind me of a visit I paid to a secondary school a few years ago. One of the sessions I sat in on was a German lesson. The pupils paid no attention to the teacher at all. They were talking to each other, throwing paper aeroplanes, making Nazi salutes and all sorts. The teacher concerned had clearly given up trying to control this class. She delivered her lesson as if nothing was happening, but I doubt any of the pupils heard a single word.

My son goes to a regular secondary in a deprived town with a long term reputation of being a difficult town.

His school is nothing like that. The children would never get away with any of that shouting, rudeness, backchat. The school have a really strict behaviour policy and the kids go through a pushing boundaries stage in year 8/9, but on the whole the school is sound. The children respect the school and the teachers, the ones that don't are swiftly dealt with.

When I was at the same school in the 80's however, it was like the one in Adolescence - possibly worse as there was a lot of glue sniffing, smoking and violence added to the mix back then.

My DD’s state school is nothing like this but is in a leafy suburb and very middle class with a supportive parent body. We are very fortunate.

@FairlyTired@Foxesandsquirrelswe use the super high tech plastic envelope with your name on it.
all phones handed in for the day.

Ds messaged me at the weekend (aged 21 went to state school). He was raving about how it's the best thing he has watched in years and yes, the school scenes were very realistic.

Ex supply teacher.

Some are like that, some are worse, some are better.

I went to a selective grammar, in a ‘leafy’ area and it was just as bad as the school in episode 2, just without the smart phones (25 years + ago). We all thought we were better than the teachers, and the disrespect was outrageous looking back. Children were doing drugs in class (class As obtained from their privately educated neighbours) and the amount of kids who would just up and leave during the school day was madness - I include myself in this, I used to disappear for hours and my parents were never informed. There was definitely less of the misogyny though, if I can remember rightly we were all very outspoken feminists and the boys were generally supportive - although misogynistic/homophobic words were generally used as insults, curse words etc. as they were probably everywhere during that time. I think we’ve all tried to block out a lot of the horrors of high school to simply allow us to send our own children there without daily crippling anxiety!

A majority do, they're only £10 and they get lunchtime detention each day they don't have one so I would imagine even the less interested parents would have the teenager complaining about it. They're used in my DDs school and they will generally try to squeeze 2 phones into one pouch if they forget their own to try and avoid detention.

Bless you, you think a parent will pay for a replacement? I'm not saying they cost the same as a building or a member of staff but a few grand initial outlay is an insane amount. I really think the general public doesn't realise how bad schools finances are.

I remember being at secondary school in the 90s, a very popular and highly regarded school, yet a lot of the time, there was trouble. Only the very strict or strong teachers had any luck in controlling classes. I absolutely hated secondary school. It’s definitely a UK culture problem. British kids act up a lot more than international kids.

Two friends are secondary school teachers and it’s is definitley like the scenes portrayed unfortunately. It’s one of the main reason teachers are leaving in droves.

It’s very common for schools to have safeguarding training on misogyny, if you work in a school and you haven’t I’d be asking SLT about this.

Yes my DS is at a London comp and he said similar. He said there can be low level
disruption (especially if it’s a sub) but pupils would not speak to teachers like that and certainly wouldn’t swear at them.

They're not that expensive, after the initial outgoing parents have to pay the replacement cost if lost, and they are reused for new students.

It's definitely worth a few grand initial outgoing for the impact phones in lessons have.
Even if some are putting a fake phone in the pouch it still means they're not in use as one even being seen will mean the phone is taken until a parent comes to collect it.

I mean my brother went to private school all the way through and encountered way worse drug problems and behaviour problems than I ever did in state. And I have heard similar about local private schools now. Girls filming inappropriate tiktoks, heavy drug use,.bullying.

You can't buy your way out of this. If you want a child who isn't a violent misogynistic you are the one that needs to do most of the work

Both myself and DP have promised that we will do everything we can to ensure we can put our children though a private school, saving as much as we can because of this and reasons mentioned above. All my friends with children at state secondary school have stated and witnessed a lot of what was portrayed in the programme, and a lot of parents are in denial about it

Totally agree, yes sorry I realised what you were replying to it was probably my comment that wasn't very clear.

They're really expensive and ineffective when the child doesn't give their real phone in.

I feel like public schools are quite famous for misogyny and troubled kids, no? My comment re private schools was more in reply to some of the posters on here saying that this is why their kids are in private schools- I don't think they, like most parents, realise private doesn't shield you from this stuff. It's also uncomfortable to admit, when you're spending £30k+ a year. A lot of independent schools are more understaffed and under resourced than state schools but money is pumped into keeping up the façade.
I just think the show needed to be as relatable as possible, it's just a normal family and a 'normal' school. But I do agree with you, there's troubled kids everywhere.

my school wasn't like this at all - but you did have a few that were like that. Causing chaos, rude to teachers, bullying etc. I think schools are actually softer now than they ever have been. My best friend has three children at high school and it's our local state - it isn't far of adolescence, apparently the children treat all staff horrendously and have no respect whatsoever. It's also rated outstanding by Ofsted which surprised me even more.

I'm amazed that not every school is using the locking phone pouches for during school hours yet. It seems ridiculous to allow them phones during the school day, I can't see any reason for it.