Netflix series Adolescence to be shown in secondary schools across UK

The initiative has been backed by the British government.

The smash hit Netflix drama — which has already provoked widespread debate for tackling the subjects of knife crime, toxic masculinity and the danger of online content on children — will now be made available alongside guides and resources for teachers, parents and carers to help them navigate the conversations that are raised, reported Vareity.

The announcement regarding the screening of the series was made following a roundtable conversation attended by British PM Keir Starmer, alongside representatives from charities such as Tender, the NSPCC, and The Children’s Society, as well as “Adolescence” co-creator Jack Thorne and producers Emily Feller and Jo Johnson.

During the meeting at Downing Street, Starmer told the makers of the series that it was "really hard to watch" with his teenage children.

Keir Starmer said the show, about a 13-year-old boy accused of murder, served as "a torch that shines intensely brightly on a combination of issues that many people don't know how to respond to", reported BBC.

The PM welcomed Netflix's move of allowing the series to be screened for free in UK secondary schools.

The prime minister told them the show was "at times harrowing" but had "lit a touch paper" under the debate about the issues.

"We've been watching with our children - my boy is 16, my girl is 14 - and I have to say, I found it really hard," he told BBC political editor Chris Mason.

It was so arresting, he said, because "in a sense, what happens in the drama could really happen anywhere, and almost happen to any child".

It shone a light "on misogyny, on online content, and this sense of children, particularly boys, getting drawn in to this world", he said.

Adolescence

Adolescence is a 2025 British crime drama television mini-series created by Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham and directed by Philip Barantini.

It centres on a 13-year-old schoolboy named Jamie Miller (Owen Cooper) who is arrested for the murder of a girl in his school.

Each of its four episodes was shot in one continuous take.

The mini-series premiered on Netflix on 13 March 2025

It had become the first streaming show to top the TV ratings in the United Kingdom.

Adolescence, a four-episode drama, has surpassed the ratings of BBC shows like The Apprentice and Death in Paradise as per the last official rankings.

The first episode was watched by 6.45 million people in the first week.