In an interview with Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Graham, co-writer of Adolescence, stated that he was inspired by the phrase “it takes a village to raise a child” when writing the show. Adolescence is not a whodunnit; it is a show focused on finding the motive, not the murderer.
Episode 2 is potentially the episode which best embodies this proverb, taking a moment of focus away from the parents and onto the wider culture which had a hand in the depicted tragedy. The episode seeks to shine a light on the struggling UK school system whilst maintaining a nuisanced view of responsibility, trying to provide an answer for why young men are falling through the gaps and turning towards radicalisation.
Within the UK state sector, 41% of teachers describe their workload as unmanageable with 58% reporting insufficient staffing levels as a cause of stress. One of the things which Episode 2 executes so accurately is the dramatisation of this statistical reality, with teachers being unable to supplement care to their students outside their education. Still, the show doesn’t shy away from making the teachers unlikable, one such instance being the character of Mr Malik and his impotence when asked about Jamie. He’s only a history teacher, he reaffirms. This flippancy as well as the detective’s comment that all it takes is one good teacher to change a child’s trajectory represents a missed opportunity for a strong male role model who could have saved Katie’s life. Nevertheless, the show allows the viewers to see teachers like Malik as victims of a failing system rather than perpetrators themselves.
The lack of support for the male students in the show is emphasised through the support which the character of Jade (the victim’s best friend) receives. Female students in schools may often receive more support than their male counterparts which is reflected in the statistic that girls are more likely to be referred to CAMHS. This gender gap is further affirmed by the widening economic gaps in education standards: between state and independent schools, classroom sizes average in the 30s for the former and in the 20s for the latter.
Going past the inequalities that exist in the provision of care for students, the system overall seems to be one which has no idea how to deal with the children’s use and exposure to social media. Graham tackls this direcly in Episode 2, where Andrew Tate is explicitly mentioned as someone the pastoral staff member has “heard the boys talking about”. Whether Katie was actually bullying Jamie, or whether he developed his extremism independently is left somewhat ambiguous until the end of Episode 3, when his motivations of sexual violence are suggested. Nevertheless, the detective maintains that Jamie’s true intentions will never be known, affirming the show’s insistence on the complexity of motive, reaffirming how this new era of toxic masculinity is beyond complete comprehension to adults. Episode 2 is thus a call to action, holding our schools and entire system of education to a greater standard, making incomprehensible tragedies, like the one the show depicts, comprehensible.
“Stephen Graham, Steve Buscemi and Terence Winter attend the launch of the Sky Atlantic channel at the Sky pop-up venue on February 4, 2011 in London, England.” by yintinma is marked with Public Domain Mark 1.0.