Now the show that literally the world is talking about Netflix show Adolescence. It is a show where a thirteen year old boy in the UK fatally injures another school student, and it has started this conversation around the world on are we doing enough with our children in the schools? Are we doing enough with our children at home to prevent this from happening, because in the UK crime from teenagers against other teenagers is absolutely rife, like the statistics
are huge. Now, off the back of this conversation about adolescence and the popularity, the British Prime Minister has actually backed the fact that this should be shown in schools around the country, that it should almost start to become a part of the school curriculum to educate and teach against misogyny and how kids can be a little bit more media literate. And I know that's a really big
thing for a teenager to understand. But with the likes of people like Andrew Tate who are consuming our young men, who we're teaching them absolutely abhorrent things, how do we counteract the crime that's happening. How do we say, Okay, it's not enough anymore for a parent to say treat your kid with respects like these things aren't enough anymore.
So in the UK they're going to say, hey, you know what, let's bring this into the school curriculum and try and start it from the education system out well.
I think if anyone hasn't seen it, a lot of it kind of revolves around screen time, and it revolves around young boys in particular forming very problematic views about girls because of the content that they're consuming online. And you know, it's a big conversation that's happened here in Australia recently around raising the age of social media use. But also the thing that kind of gets left out of that equation is how easy it is for kids
to access sexually explicit materials online as well. And I thought the show was incredible. I think everyone who's watched it walks away from it thinking, not only is it the way it's created is amazing, it's this one shot film, but what it makes you think as a parent, what it makes you think is how you're raising your children, I think is really profound and interesting. My take home from this wasn't just about how there needs to be work done with kids, but I also think there needs
to be worked on with parents. I don't think that we are in time when parents can be illiterate to what their children are consuming online anymore. I think that if your kids have a screen, if they have computers in their room, if they are young and impressionable, then there has to be an understanding of what it is that they could be consuming, and there has to be conversations that are happening with your kids at home, not just with kids at school for that change to happen.
Well, there's a woman named Somasara who has founded a charity which focuses on highlighting a lot of violence against children, and she has collected thousands of anonymous testimonies from women and girls that describe what happens at schools on school grounds, and that is the groping, assault, sexist name calling, inappropriate touching, and the fact that this is increasing. So you think of how much work we have been doing as a society to try and counteract this, yet we're seeing an
increase in it. So I think the education systems are at a bit of a wits end. It's like, so, what are we actually going to do to stop this? Because it would be a really scary time for a parent there's a lot of parents that are not doing the right thing. There's a lot of parents that are doing every single thing they can to teach their children and protect their children, and they're still seeing that it's not enough.
Yeah, but I think, you know, And one of the things that this show showed so perfectly is that it's very easy to think that it's not your child. It's very easy to look at your own parenting and be like, but I'm a good parent. I love my kids, I care about my kids, I want the best of my kids. I provide for them. My kid's a good kid, you know, And we always think that, right, Like you always think your kid's a good kid because you raise them, you
want to protect them. But like in this instance, it's like there was so many other things that were going on with this boy who is the main character of this show that the parents just weren't aware of. And I would dare say that there are lot of kids who do horrible things and their parents are like, I
never would have expected it from my child. And I guess like that's the thing is knowing that, like there are things that our kids can be exposed to and can be doing that we might not be aware of well.
The British Prime Minister has said whilst it was difficult to watch, and he did watch it with his fourteen year old daughter and sixteen year old son, he said, I do believe if this is put into schools it will help students better understand the impact of misogyny, the dangers of online radicalization, and the importance of healthy relationships.
I think, as much as it would be very confronting for a lot of people to watch, if you are in your late teens, I think you're old enough to consume this content and if it is going to help with the things that they think it's going to help with, then I would absolutely be all for it shown in schools to kickstart that conversation.
Yeah, I agree, And I also think if you're a parent and you're listening to this and you haven't watched it yet, I think watching it with your kids so that you can have the discussion. I don't think that there's any point a fourteen year old watching it on their own, because if they don't already understand, they're not
going to just comprehend by watching a TV show. There needs to be that sort of adult intervention or you know the school system whatever it is, but there has to be the support that goes with watching something like that, So definitely watch it with your kids and have discussions afterwards.
Yeah, having said that, it is time for us to get out of here. We're going to see you again tomorrow