26/06/2025
Near the end of the last episode of the Netflix series Adolescence, Jamie's parents have a heart breaking conversation. This series leaves so many unanswered questions and unexplored rabbit holes, but what stuck with me is when Manda says that there were many nights that she'd pass his room long after midnight and his light was still on. She'd knock on the door and remind him he had school the next day and the light would go off and there was silence. Eddie admits that when his business took off, things got busy and that he may have dropped the ball. They both agree that they feel they could have done more.
As a rule, I don't watch series or films these days unless I feel it is essential viewing. Adolescence stopped me in my tracks and particularly appealed to the filmmaking and theatre portion of my brain because of the technical marvel of the one-shot episodes.
I can still hear Mickey Hatton telling Bruce, Mandisa and I that filmmakers shouldn't take shots for shots-sake. I.e. don't draw attention to the way the shot is filmed if it takes the attention away from the story. I'd argue that the one-shot approach to this narrative was crucial for two reasons - to keep the viewer gripped and anxious consistently, and to get the world's attention.
Don't scroll past this one. I believe Adolescence really is essential viewing.
Of course I could inject opinion and criticism about this series, but I'm not a film critic and also, to what end? I feel the whole point was to get our attention, and get us questioning and talking.
I'm going to add a couple of ingredients to this, whatever this is. It's an email from the Barefoot Investor. He was told by a mate to give ChatGPT a very specific prompt: If you were the devil, how would you ruin the next generation? Here's what it generated for Scott Pape:
āIf I were the devil, and my goal was to quietly but effectively destroy the next generationānot through shock and awe, but through slow, systemic erosionāhereās how Iād do it:
Hijack their attention
Create devices that feel essential, but are engineered to be addictive. Use infinite scroll, auto-play, dopamine loops, and FOMO. Make them believe that consuming is creating, and scrolling is learning.
Example: A 14-year-old watches 4 hours of TikTok āproductivity hacksā and does nothing all day.
Redefine success as fame and external validation
Elevate influencers, not contributors. Teach them that a viral moment is more valuable than a decade of hard work. Make ālikesā the new currency of self-worth.
Example: Kids want to be YouTubers when they grow upānot because they love storytelling, but because they crave adoration.
Attack the family structure
Undermine parental authorityāpromote the idea that parents are outdated or oppressive. Normalize absentee parenting through economic pressure and distraction. Erode the idea of family traditions, shared meals, and generational wisdom.
Example: A child feels closer to a Twitch streamer than to their dad.
Cut them off from nature
Replace tree climbing, swimming holes, and dirt-under-the-nails play with digital avatars and indoor screens. Frame outdoor play as āboringā or unsafe. Turn the natural world into something abstract and inaccessible.
Example: A 10-year-old canāt identify a magpie but knows every PokĆ©mon.
Confuse pleasure with purpose
Market hyper-palatable food, p**n, and substances as āfreedomā. Create shame-free indulgence while ridiculing restraint, discipline, and tradition. Make pleasure the default pursuit, and discomfort the ultimate enemy.
Example: A young man loses years to video games, vapes, and p**nānot because he's evil, but because he's numb and alone.
Replace meaning with mockery
Treat faith, commitment, and virtue as relics of the past. Replace sacred stories with algorithm-driven noise. Make them afraid to stand for anything that isnāt trending.
Example: A teenager is more afraid of being ācringeā than being cruel.
Kill community, quietly
Sell hyper-individualism: āyou do youā, āfollow your truthā, ācut off the hatersā. Remove rites of passage, civic duty, and face-to-face belonging. Make every connection transactional and every disagreement personal.
Example: Loneliness becomes a silent epidemicābut everyone has 2,000 āfriendsā.
Enslave them with debt and distraction
Promote financial illiteracy: āBuy now, pay laterā becomes a lifestyle. Blur the lines between wants and needsāencourage instant gratification over savings. Keep them working jobs they hate to buy things they donāt need.
Example: A 22-year-old racks up $30,000 in credit card and Afterpay debt to look successful on Instagram.
Weaken them physically
Fill their diet with ultra-processed garbage and their lifestyle with inactivity. Make discipline in eating or training seem extreme or obsessive. Blur the connection between physical vitality and mental strength.
Example: A child canāt sit still in class, not because theyāre brokenābut because theyāre inflamed, malnourished, and sleep-deprived.
Make them spiritually hollow
Give them identity confusion, not exploration. Remove the idea of service, sacrifice, or something bigger than themselves.Make them feel like nothing mattersāso they seek numbness, not growth.
Example: A 16-year-old says āI donāt careā about everythingābecause caring hurts and thereās no compass.
If I were the devil, I wouldnāt come with horns and pitchforks. Iād come with a sleek app, a soothing voice, a personal algorithm ā and Iād whisper: āThis is freedom.āā
So I'm asking you, yes you, as a parent or anyone who is connected to children and young adults, what tactics are you employing to ensure we are raising critical thinking, grounded, productive, socially capable, morally sound humans who generally make good choices and give a damn about other people? How do we, from kids to pensioners, drag ourselves away from the intensely private and addictive worlds in our devices and our distracting every-day obligations to be more present? I'm scared of what's ahead, and I welcome your ideas.
