Should India allow the streaming of Netflix’s Adolescence in Indian schools, like Keir Starmer has in the UK?

Netflix's newly released masterpiece of a mini-series, Adolescence, has become the talk of the town. It’s mind-boggling theatricals to its one-shot episodes, Stephen Graham made sure this show brought out the best in every scene. Adolescence revolves around the story of a 13-year-old boy arrested for the suspected murder of a female classmate while exploring issues of toxic masculinity and adolescent solitude.

Each episode shows the raw emotions of each character as though they might actually be living it. Unlike most shows, Adolescence shows ‘why’ the child did what he did and how his family dealt with a situation as difficult as this.

This show has encapsulated souls across the globe, including UK PM Keir Starmer. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced that the Netflix series Adolescence would be accessible for streaming in schools to promote debates about child psychology, toxic masculinity, and social media impact. It will not be a part of the school's curriculum. Whilst some had mixed opinions about his approach, it was appreciated by many as this show puts out an important message which has not been talked about as much as it should.

While this debate soars across the internet, Indians argue that this should begin in Indians schools as well, since the crime rate amongst juveniles has been rising by the year. As per the analysis of NCRB reports:- A total of 30,555 crimes were committed by minors in 2022 of which the cases have only been increasing ever since.

“My immediate instinct after I watched the show was that I should show it to the children in my schools, but again, they should be sensitized and briefed about it beforehand. Our school every year gives certain movies or shows for the kids as a ‘must-watch’, to encourage them to watch such content.. So why not content such as this? Because it's not very visual, at the same time it touches or hits the right points where it's supposed to” Susanna Varghese, Trustee of Guardian Education Institutes believes this is an appropriate show to watch for children in school and supports the idea of it being a part of her schools curriculum.

“The show must be shown to all public school senior students and to Senior teachers of Govt schools,” says Chandra Sen, Former Principal, Navyug School as she also believes that this show is a must watch not only for all teachers, but for all senior students as well.