Stanley Hall, an American psychologist, wrote in 1904 on how during adolescence, individuals experience a period of 'storm and stress'. Over 120 years later, the gripping crime drama on Netflix titled Adolescence, stirred quite a storm of its own. A powerful hurricane of raw pain and grief. It tackles the reality of how young lives, and their families, can be transformed in a surreal nightmare overnight. A nightmare touching a nerve for every teenage parent, to have to wonder what they could have done differently.
This series sparked vital conversations about the harsh realities of digital spaces, the behaviours they foster, and the problems they can create. It sheds light on how online perceptions of identity are shaped and solidified, becoming a defining part of one's reality. This sits uncomfortably with the growing reality of using technology to enhance education and communication. However, digital tools are not just instruments-they can also be weapons. Weapons that fuel the insidious spread of cyberbullying, reinforce chauvinistic attitudes, perpetuate toxic masculinity, and poison young minds through unregulated social media, incel ideologies, and harmful narratives about themselves and their changing bodies. The rise of misogynistic views online is deepening the division and polarization between genders.
As I sat at the edge of my seat, I found myself learning the meanings of different emojis, away from the more visible definition. The language of emojis is fascinating. It's a form of communication that is rapidly evolving. One that I admittedly find myself not well-versed in, especially after watching Adolescence. It is not simply picture representations, but a shorthand for expressing feelings, often conveying emotional states in a way that transcends the limitations of text. Emojis help recreate some of the nonverbal cues that are essential for understanding emotions, such as tone of voice, facial expressions, and body language. The series provided valuable insights into the different meanings behind emojis when used in certain contexts online. It also highlighted how the meaning of an emoji can dramatically change when combined with others, creating layered messages that might be misinterpreted or carry unintended weight.
As an educator, I found particularly striking the lack of control and respect within the school setting. This is especially given that schools are institutions responsible for shaping informal education; teaching values such as respect, authority, and acceptable behaviour. The portrayal of these issues in the series highlighted the growing challenges educators face in fostering a positive and disciplined environment where students can learn and develop these crucial life skills.
But are these adolescents rebelling without a cause? Or rather, what are the causal factors for their dispositions? This generation of young individuals, known as Generation Z, born roughly between 1997 and 2012, are an interesting bunch. They were the first generation born fully immersed in technological smart devices. They grew up during the pandemic lockdowns, a time that significantly increased their online presence as their physical worlds became restricted. They are living in a climate of the woke culture and the global popularisation of extreme right. They were immersed in a culture that amplifies the need for validation. They are constantly blamed for being snowflakes-as being overly sensitive, emotionally fragile, and easily offended. They are familiar with the cancel culture and live with the constant fear of being cancelled themselves, which only adds to the growing anxiety of trying to fit in. This, however, is not simply synonymous with Gen Zs. Think back to the teenage turmoil and rebellious icons like James Dean, who embodied defiance-rebelling, but not necessarily without a cause. Their struggles with identity and societal expectations were just as profound, though expressed in different ways. The essence of teenage rebellion, shaped by the pressures of their time, remains a common thread across generations.
However, within just one generation, it seems we are struggling to keep up with the constant shifts in what defines today's teenagers. The rapid evolution of technology and the ever-changing landscape of digital devices have drastically reshaped the way they communicate, socialize, and form identities. What once seemed like a steady progression of adolescent behaviour now feels like a whirlwind of new platforms, trends, and pressures that we, as adults, are often just trying to understand.
The series has ignited important discussions about the impact of online communities on adolescent behaviour. To an extent that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer praised Adolescence for its thoughtful depiction of teenage challenges and supported its free distribution in UK secondary schools to encourage conversations about the effects of social media on young people.
It is commendable that this initiative is implemented in Malta. This is crucial for our youths, as they navigate and make sense of both the physical and virtual worlds they inhabit. I say this not just as an educator of teenagers and young adults at university. I say this also as a mother to an almost-teenager. While his body now towers over mine, yet for me, he remains naïve to fully understand the complexities of the world they are growing into. Scaremongering aside, it is worth watching to make better sense of some of the online realities and their impact especially on young developing minds.
Prof. Valerie Visanich is an Associate Professor in Sociology