Teen Reality: Laid Bare

‘Adolescence’ is a mirror which we just can’t ignore

By Aayushi Rana

I sat down and watched the much-talked-about series Adolescence.

This is not a review.

I am a 26-year-old woman, a journalist, and a former educator who has worked with students of the same age group shown in the series. I have witnessed it first hand.

The chats. The picture sharing. The shaming. The insecurity. The need to be popular.

I have seen how a single message can change the course of a child’s life. How the pressure to be accepted, to belong, can make a teenager lose themselves. Adolescence does not sensationalize these realities; it simply holds up a mirror to them. And, to us.

A Teacher’s POV

After watching the series, I sat frozen, staring at the black screen after the last episode. The weight of what I had just seen settled heavily in my chest.

What has triggered me to write this? 

Multiple things. This series has covered everything we fail to talk about with our children as parents, fail to understand as educators, and cannot even fathom as adults.

Reviews are everywhere. You can read them. But what I feel compelled to discuss is the part of our new society this series lays bare. 

It’s not just the UK. It’s in every school, every group chat, every teenage social circle in the world. Yes, in India.

Actor and co-producer Graham’s statement in the series—What goes on inside our kids’ rooms, we don’t know. Whether they are watching porn, you don’t know. We cannot keep an eye on them 24 hours a day—stuck with me. It was a stark reminder of something I have always known, but never said aloud. 

We can’t monitor every moment. We shouldn’t. We shouldn’t have to. However, in today’s hyper-connected world, the gaps in our knowledge are more dangerous than ever.

I have been a teenager. I have faced bullying in school. I know how difficult it is. How suffocating. How relentless. To wake up every morning and face the same classmates who demean you, who laugh at you, who chip away at your self-worth — piece by piece.

This series shows that the problem is bigger than just bullying. It’s about society as a domino effect—parents, social media influencers, platform-owners, teachers, students—all interconnected. If one piece falls, the entire structure crumbles.

A Parent’s Nightmare

Episode 3 is a parent’s worst fear coming to life. The show exposes the reality that surrounds our children, whether we choose to acknowledge it or not. And this is not just fiction—these things are happening.

Knife crime statistics in the UK are chilling. In one year alone, over 18,000 knife-related crimes were recorded, with 17.3 per cent of offenders being between the ages of 10 and 17. Just days after Adolescence was released, a real-life case shook the nation—a 15-year-old boy was convicted of attempting to murder a 14-year-old girl with a samurai-style sword.

The show’s most unsettling moment is when a teenager, moments before committing murder, claims he should be admired for not sexually assaulting his victim first. That line lingers. It reveals something deeply disturbing about how violence and toxic masculinity intertwine in certain young minds.

The Voices that Matter

Beyond statistics and headlines, Adolescence is most powerful in how it captures the personal, intimate experiences of teenagers today. I spoke to a few, bright youngsters. I am sharing two interviews.

Tanya, BTech Student

“Adolescence is a heartbreaking and painfully real look at how a boy like Jamie Miller—just 13-years-old—can end up at the center of a tragedy no one saw coming. Through stunning one-shot episodes, the series pulls you into Jamie’s world, where the internet becomes both an escape and a dangerous influence, feeding him toxic ideas when he is at his most vulnerable. At school, relentless bullying chips away at his self-worth, while at home, parental neglect leaves him feeling invisible. Owen Cooper’s performance is devastatingly honest. Adolescence isn’t just a show—it’s a mirror reflecting the dark corners of modern adolescence, and it lingers with you long after the screen fades to black.”

Sahil Rana, MA in English Literature

“The manosphere thing feels unsettling. A lot of it sounds like frustration masked as advice, and while some guys in there are just lost and looking for guidance, a lot of it looks like blame, control, and dangerous ideas about relationships. It worries me because I have a sister growing up in this world, and I don’t ever want her to believe that her worth depends on how others see her or that she has to shrink herself to be loved. My biggest fear is that she might listen to the wrong voices—the ones that make her doubt herself or accept less than she deserves. The only way I know to keep her safe is to talk to her. Really talk. So she knows she can always come to me. I want her to understand what real respect looks like, to recognize manipulation when she sees it, and to trust her instincts when something feels wrong. More than anything, I just want to be there so that she never feels like she has to figure it all out alone.”

Respect the Age Rating

Adolescence is rated 15+ for a reason. Not because of explicit content, but because of its emotional intensity. Younger children may not be developmentally ready to process what they see.

If You Watch It With Your Teen…

Don’t just watch. Talk.

• What stood out?
• What scared or challenged them?
• What would they do differently?

This is how you build emotional intelligence, not just fear-driven awareness.

Empower, Don’t Scare

Your goal isn’t to shock them into obedience. Empower them with wisdom and emotional strength. Fear-based parenting leads to silence. Empowered parenting creates safety and trust. Adolescence doesn’t have all the answers. It doesn’t tell us how to fix the terrible mess we have made of the relentless digital world. But it forces us to confront it. And maybe, just maybe, that’s the first step toward change.

Images of Adolescence, the series, taken from Netflix promotional content.