Adolescence

[heartsinvisiblefury]

What an amazing piece of television. Stephen Graham is exceptional. Highly recommend this - on Netflix.

I kinda think that's the point.

Music is played long after it is released especially at school discos. Say the disco they met at was 1987 that means they were born in 1974/1975. Turning 50 in 2024/25. Jamie was 13 in 2024 so born in 2011 when they were 36/37 and Lisa was 17/18 in the last episode ( they talked about her being at college) so born in 2007/8 when her parents were 33 or 34 .

Is anyone else a bit confused about the enthusiasm to show this in schools? I am not sure if would really help. Show to parents and to policy makers who have influence on social media usage in children.

I suspect it wouldnt really hit the mark with teenagers. They just need their mobile phone usage monitored and restricted and good male role models in their life

'Is anyone else a bit confused about the enthusiasm to show this in schools? I am not sure if would really help. Show to parents and to policy makers who have influence on social media usage in children.'

Totally confused. No idea what they are hoping to achieve by showing it to kids. It feels like the usual knee jerk grandstanding. Being seen to do SOMETHING

I don't recall that Government have encouraged showing dramas about grooming gangs, online terrorism radicalisation or knife culture before? Programmes that would demonstrate actual current risks.

This is the most overblown overhyped twaddle I've seen.

Totally agree @Gloriia. it’s mind blowing to me that something that is fiction is getting this sort of attention.

Yes agree with you and pp

Toxic masculinity is as old as time. Men have always been expected to exhibit certain behaviours and suppress others in order to be considered sufficiently masculine, and have always punished each other harshly for any failures to do so.
The manosphere is what happens when toxic masculinity meets misogyny and the victims of toxic masculinity misdirect their anger towards women rather than other men. Which again, isn't a new thing.
I think the rise is in part due to susceptible males finding each other online and the ease of spreading the word, while at the same time being bombarded with aspirational lifestyles on SM and feeling more victimised because they lack them.

I finished watching last night. I enjoyed it as a drama - I thought the ‘one shot’ format was very clever, even if it did result in some inconsistencies in pacing and some plot contrivances (remarkable amount of police work completed between 10pm
and 6am!). Lead performances were great.

Maybe it’s just because I came in after the hype though but I am struggling to see why it‘a caused so much fuss - anyone who sees this as “eye-opening” really hasn’t been paying attention.

'I think the rise is in part due to susceptible males finding each other online'

I bet it pales into insignificance when compared to the amount of online extremist/terrorist based radicalisation which is the most serious and current threat to this country.

Let's see Starmer push for dramas about that to be shown in our schools. Oh wait, he won't because he daren't address the real issues for fear of being labelled a racist so let's just focus on some made up whataboutery regarding 13yr old 'incels'.

@Gloriia yes it’s a pity that the same attention isn’t being devoted to finding out exactly what compelled Axel Rudukubana to meticulously plot and kill little girls attending a Taylor Swift dance event rather than different victims in a different setting.

Personally I don't think there's been a rise - I'd argue it's just gone, to some degree, underground. Men's attitudes to women have been horrendous throughout history.

We are probably living in the best era there's ever been for women - disappointingly.....

For example, DV isn't on the rise it's just illegal now in a way it wasn't before. Men beat their wives as par for the course previously. There's some statistics that it's on the rise but there's also better reporting now. So is it chicken or egg?

Similarly for marital rape and rape in general. Far more women report now - the toxicity comes from those report not leading to sentencing.

So while we may live and work in places where men pretend infront of women because that's the PC way, they are at home watching people like Andrew Tate and secretly agreeing. A certain portion of those men are still vocal.

But there's no 'rise in toxic masculinity' - we've just given it a name.

There are numerous government initiatives addressing this issue, including in schools. Google Prevent programne for details if you're unaware of it.

Oh I've heard of it, vaguely. Nothing is being pushed like this craze for Adolescence though

13yr old alleged 'incels' are not the biggest threat to this country's security. It is absolutely batshit how some people in the media are falling over themselves to promote it.

No one said incel culture was a threat to national security. But it is a problem for some of our young people. Male on female violence has sharply increased amongst teens and its a cause for concern. Why would you have such a problem with a drama that explores this and starts conversation about the causes? You may not feel its doing any good, but I'm struggling to see what harm you feel its causing to be so adamantly opposed to it. Its not like it's being done instead of things like prevent, it's in addition.

'No one said incel culture was a threat to national security. But it is a problem for some of our young people.'

Ok. 13yr old 'incels' are not the biggest risk to public safety. We know drugs, gangs and extremist radicalisation are. The pm should focus on that not this made up scenario that has so msny seal clapping whilst ignoring the actual risks and most likely knife attackers.

@5128gap where are you getting the information on a “sharp increase” in male on female violence amongst teens from?

Jess Philips, the safeguarding minister for the UK. She has spoken about it in a number of interviews about VAWG. You can see them on YouTube.

Happy to be corrected but I do not think there are actual statistics available on this.

I think this drama is getting people focused on the wrong thing. Realistically, I don't think we're on the verge of an epidemic of boys stabbing girls because of stuff they've read online. It's not extreme violence that's the major risk here.

I do however think there's a really big social issue around the extent to which the attitudes of boys and young men are being shaped by a variety of influences, including online culture, in a way that is deeply troubling and impacts everything from politics to the economy to VAWG and our whole culture.

But I don't think we needed a four part drama to tell us this, the evidence is everywhere.

I agree with this. He had 'Nonce' sprayed on his van in big letters but took his wife and daughter out for a jolly to B&Q in it? Who does that? I thought that could have been done better without the spray painting, and seemed to be a vehicle to shoehorn an incel into the story.

I'd be very surprised if there weren't given the minister's comments. It's not the sort of thing she'd make up, there is no reason or political gain for her to do so. The fact that the woman with overall responsibility for safeguarding considers it a significant issue is surely sufficient for us to stop trying to argue its not.

@5128gap Well actually all she said was there had been an increase in sexual violence AMONG teenagers and she said precisely the same thing in 2021 and earlier. I am virtually certain that there are no actual statistics to support the claim that there has been a sharp increase in male on female sexual violence amongst teenagers.

I think that given she is also the minister for VAWG, spoke about an increase in misogyny amongst 'our sons' generation and links this to online content to which boys are vulnerable, I think its reasonable to conclude when she said 'among' teenagers she is referring to male on female violence amongst teens. Given the patterns of violence, particularly sexual violence shown by males and females, and the relative incidences of such by sex, then it would be rather anomalous if in teens 'among' meant it was not male on female, but something else.

@5128gap be that as it may but although I am happy to be corrected I am not aware of any actual statistics to support a claim of a dramatic increase in sexual violence from teenage boys against teenage girls, either in 2021 or 2025.