RMIT University Media Release
The hit drama series, Adolescence, has been making headlines for its exploration of masculinity, toxic behaviours and online radicalisation. There has been a worldwide debate about whether the show should be included in school curriculums. An RMIT expert explains what impact this could have at Australian schools.
Dr Elise Waghorn, Lecturer in Early Childhood said:
“Adolescence is very confronting. Schools would need to take a very careful approach when showing it, and make sure they understand the children’s level of maturity.
“I’d hate to think that the series is going to just be shown in schools with children then left to digest and interpret it themselves.
“If schools are going to show Adolescence, it should be embedded into curriculum around safe media use with the show as a case study, and this will need to be done in consultation with parents, guardians and the school community.
“There are very different mental and emotional maturity levels across students, so showing it in a classroom might not necessarily be the answer. This would not be a one size fits all approach.
“I think the bottom line is that we need to be having these conversations regardless of whether we show a TV program or not – it’s really about having conversations both at school and home, providing a consistent message, and making sure that children feel safe enough to come to a trusted adult if something happens.”
Dr Elise Waghorn has expertise in early childhood development. Her research focuses on exploring the everyday life of children in Australia and their connection to policy and educational experiences in Hong Kong and Singapore.
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I watched this most powerful drama series and am still troubled by the film series which showed – definitely- that most parents don’t trouble themselves about the insidious content their children could be accessing on their phones or lap tops.
The internet and all its horrors are so freely open to children. We regularly hear of ‘disturbed’ young men – and it seems always to be young men- committing horrific crimes here and in other places. Never women.
Women committing horrific crimes?
The likes of the odious Andrew Tate and his brother and more- inciting violence towards women and male supremacy is terrifying because he and his ilk have so many followers. Young minds- ingesting Tate and his followers stuff is so harmful.
Once phones were those black things you picked up or else you made a call from an outside telephone box or something similar.
Phones now are a source of “Influence” – such a scary term in itself.
“Influencers.” The word says it all.
Immature minds or ‘disturbed ‘ minds of troubled young men , who are possibly open to absorb absorb all the vile, putrid words of people like the Tate brothers online and probably others like them.
My g. daughter follows “influencers” who talk about fashion and beauty items – which I think is quite ridiculous- but there needs to be an absolute stop to those others who actively perpetrate that dominance over women is the way to go.
When the USA president is quoted- in the past- saying that his own male power could allow him to personally invade private female and private space with no impunity because he was so powerful and the same President allowed Tate and his brother- misogynists both, users and abusers- into the USA recently some questions should be asked.
That powerful and disturbing message from ‘Adolescence’ is worrying. Fiction but seriously concerning.