The creators wanted wanted Adolescence to be a programme that ’causes discussion and makes change’
Schools across the country are set to give students anti-misogyny lessons in the wake of hit Netflix TV show Adolescence.
The show tells the story of a young boy who murders a female classmate.
The classes form part of the government’s new relationships, health and sex education (RHSE) guidance, which will be introduced before the end of the academic year.
Sir Keir Starmer revealed he was watching the series at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, and endorsed the shows creators who have called for it to be shown in parliament and schools.
The four-episode programme follows the Miller family, whose lives are torn apart when their 13-year-old son Jamie is arrested for stabbing a female classmate to death after being influenced by online misogyny.
The drama was released earlier this month and became the most-watched show on Netflix worldwide last weekend, gripping audiences with its sobering portrayal of how social media and misogynistic influencers can impact young boys.
Labour are still developing their classroom guidance but it is understood to include content to ‘support healthy relationships’, to ‘enable schools to tackle harmful behaviour and ensure that misogyny is stamped out and not allowed to proliferate’, an insider source told The Times.
Children will be encouraged to ‘express and understand boundaries, handle disappointment and pay attention to the needs and preferences of oneself and others’ from as early as primary school.
Content will be modified for older children to reflect the ‘real-life complexities of romantic and sexual relationships’, the source added.
The development comes as a win for the Netflix show’s co-writers, Jack Thorne and actor Stephen Graham – who stars as the teen boy’s father – who have said they wanted Adolescence to be a programme that ’causes discussion and makes change’.
Adolescence was praised last week by the parents of a survivor of the Southport stabbings for drawing attention to the ‘terrifying’ impacts of online misogynistic content on young men.
Axel Rudakubana, then 17, stabbed their daughter – known as Child A – more than 30 times during his brutal attack on a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in July last year. He killed three young girls – and was jailed for life in January.
The parents, in a statement read out by their MP during a debate on knife crime in the House of Commons on Thursday, said influencers like Andrew Tate are having a ‘terrifying’ impact on teen boys, who needed to be protected from this content.
Triple murderer Kyle Clifford – who shot his ex-girlfriend Louise Hunt and her sister Hannah with a crossbow and stabbed their mother Carol – is known to have viewed Tate’s videos before making his ferocious attacks.
The new guidance will encourage students to ‘think about what healthy sexual relationships involve’ – including ‘consent’, along with ‘kindness, attention and care’.
Topics covered will range from dynamics of power and vulnerability, to tools to manage ‘difficult emotions’, like disappointment and anger, that can affect relationships as well as the effects of misogynistic online content and pornography.
Education secretary Bridget Phillipson has faced pressure to overturn RSHE guidance drafted by the previous Conservative government – which included bans on sex education for children under nine and discussions of gender identity.
