❌ SPOILER ALERT: this blog delves into the plot of Adolescence by Netflix.

Masculinity has been under the microscope this week. Netflix’s Adolescence, a four-part drama from Stephen Graham and Jack Thorne, thrust the topic into the national consciousness. The series opens as 13-year-old Jamie is arrested and subsequently charged with the murder of classmate Katie.

There is no doubt about whether or not he did it. The first episode ends with Jamie and his dad (Stephen Graham) being confronted with CCTV footage of Jamie repeatedly stabbing Katie in a car park near their school.

The uncertainty revolves around the question of why he did it. He has no apparent motive to hurt Katie, and his friends don’t offer any insight. His parents are loving and present, if a little disconnected from Jamie’s day to day life, because creator Stephen Graham said it was important not to give an easy answer – no abusive dad or alcoholic mum.

Do you know what your children are doing online?

To discover the motive behind the attack, the impenetrable world of teenage social media has to be decoded for the detectives. Katie accused Jamie of being an incel (involuntary celibate) through carefully chosen emojis in comments on his posts. The red pill, the dynamite, the kidney bean, the 100 – even the colour of heart you choose can have a hidden meaning.

In the final episode, we see the ongoing impact on Jamie’s family 13 months after his arrest. His parents question themselves, their parenting style, how they could have made a murderer. They recall Jamie becoming withdrawn and spending all his time alone in his room, with his computer. “We thought he was safe, in there.”

But Jamie wasn’t safe, he was being influenced, radicalised even. In conversations with the clinical psychologist, he repeats ideology picked up from ‘manosphere’. Influencers like Andrew Tate have convinced Jamie that the world is against him: 80% of women are attracted to 20% of men (hence the 100 emoji).

Jamie explains that because he is ugly, he has to trick women into liking him. He asked Katie out when he thought she would be weak enough to accept his advances, because a topless photo she sent to a boy she liked had been circulated around the school.

Jamie’s sudden violent outbursts contrast with the vulnerable frightened teenager we see at other times. With the court appointed therapist, one moment he is engaged and appreciative of a hot chocolate with marshmallows, followed the next with rageful, physical outbursts, then emotionally closed off, then aggressive, mocking connection, love, and asking if she thinks he’s ugly. We are left not knowing who is the real Jamie, and sure that he has little if any understanding of that either. He’s clearly terrified about where he is and how he got there, but to show that would be unthinkable. Is he a boy brainwashed by people he saw as role models or a young man capable of extreme violence? Can the answer be both?

Social media can also present positive models of masculinity

Another Jamie has been ever present on social media this week. Jamie Laing, former star of Made in Chelsea, ran 5 ultra-marathons to raise funds for Comic Relief. In a series of interviews and video clips for BBC Radio One along the way, Jamie has been open and vulnerable about how tough the challenge was both physically and mentally.

He cried with happiness and with pain as he shared the highs and lows of his experience. He also repeatedly stressed the importance of talking about how you’re feeling. Jamie candidly admitted that receiving support from friends and strangers around the country as he ran helped him complete his challenge, being open and allowing others to see his vulnerability was key.

So, do we need to ban the internet?

The response to Adolescence has been widespread. Keir Starmer praised it in Parliament and co-writer Jack Thorne was on Question Time discussing proposals for a smartphone ban in schools and a digital age of consent.

But what’s missing from the debate is the voices of young people, and the role of community, connection and hope in boys and young men’s lives. Global Fund for Children is committed to a youth-led approach. We’re supporting community organisations to work with boys and young men on reimagining masculinity themselves.

The internet and social media isn’t the enemy in and of itself. We need to be aware of whose voices are being listened to and what they are saying. Healthy emotional development can only happen through conversation and vulnerability. Our partners like The Warren Youth Project in Hull, Haven in Sheffield, Juvenis and YOH in London, and Breaking the Silence in Bradford are providing this opportunity across the country.

Global Fund for Children’s Healthy Masculinities work, in partnership with People’s Postcode Lottery and the National Lottery Community Fund aims to create spaces for boys and young men to open up and express themselves.