The series “Adolescence” has been a huge ratings success. Marketing studies on series that address bullying make it clear that audiences are more attracted to the sensationalism of the problem than to promoting actual solutions.
If the goal of showing Adolescence in schools were to prevent or overcome the violence that exists within them, then the debate, the presentation, and the information would focus on scientifically proven solutions, rather than on the sensationalism portrayed in the series. However, most schools across various countries that are considering screening and discussing the series are not addressing these evidence-based solutions. Instead, they are spreading unfounded rumors, each person making up their own explanation—whether it’s blaming pornography, social media, or mobile phones.
Netflix, the multinational corporation behind the series, must be quite satisfied; it has managed to gain access to many households and now schools seem eager to give it even more free publicity. Interestingly, many of those who are vocally anti-American are the most enthusiastic supporters of this initiative. One must wonder whether those deciding to show the series in classrooms have considered the additional suffering it could cause a girl who is already a victim of bullying—unknown to her school and family—when she sees a series about her own situation being promoted without her voice being heard, without support, and while being surrounded by all kinds of uninformed commentary.
Some say that education is becoming a system that’s losing its heart. This blind following of a profit-driven multinational seems, at the very least, to be chilling many hearts. Those who truly care about these girls—which are many—focus on real solutions. We know that for most people it’s easier to dwell on the problem, or even find it intriguing, than to explore well-founded solutions that would require them to take a stance and act. But that is precisely the only thing that improves education and allows girls and boys to wake up eager to go to school, rather than anxious and fearful of what might happen to them there.
Fortunately, more and more schools are beginning to implement these solutions, and they are seeing positive results. The Zero Violence Brave Club is reaching many schools and helping to create zero-violence environments.
Article translated from Periódico Educación
For 12 years, she worked as a special education teacher and inclusive education advisor in the Generalitat Valenciana. She is currently Associate Professor at the University of Valencia. Her research areas include Successful Educational Actions with diverse social groups and across different learning stages, teacher training, educational inclusion, and preventive socialization against gender-based violence.
PhD in Education - Adjunct Professor at the University of Valencia.
For 23 years, she was a teacher of therapeutic pedagogy and primary education, and for 8 years, the director of CEIP L'Escolaica.
Predoctoral researcher at the University of Barcelona