Since its release in March 2025 on Netflix, the series Adolescence has shaken viewers. Following 13-year-old Jamie Miller, accused of murdering his classmate Katie Leonard, the show paints a chilling yet realistic picture of the mechanics of school bullying — its roots, its silences, and its downward spiral.
Behind the dramatic tension, the script reveals the invisible dynamics that destroy seemingly “ordinary” young people. Here are the key moments that crystallize this violence — and what they reveal.
Derrière la tension dramatique, le scénario dévoile les dynamiques invisibles qui détruisent des jeunes en apparence « ordinaires ». Voici les moments clés qui cristallisent cette violence, et ce qu’ils révèlent.
The series Adolescence: powerful scenes of ordinary, systemic, and digital violence
- Mockery normalized in the classroom
From the very first episodes, Katie endures humiliation within the classroom itself. A comment about her clothes, a stifled laugh while she speaks—nothing spectacular, but a steady accumulation of gestures that gradually isolate her.
These scenes highlight that bullying often begins with the normalization of everyday cruelty, reinforced by group silence or adult passivity.
2. The “video sharing” scene
A video showing Katie in a vulnerable moment is shared across the school’s social media. Within hours, she becomes the laughingstock of her peers. The scene shows Katie alone, lost in a hallway, desperately trying to delete from her phone what is already spreading beyond control.
This is a turning point: humiliation becomes public, viral, and unstoppable. The series powerfully exposes the multiplying effect of social media on personal suffering.
3. Emojis as invisible weapons
In a brilliantly ambiguous scene, investigators discover that emoji exchanges between Jamie and his classmates are actually coded messages of mockery and intimidation. This moment reveals the complexity of digital bullying—subtle, evolving, and difficult to detect.
4. Adult silence
One of the most disturbing aspects of Adolescence is the silence—or willful blindness—of adults. Parents, teachers, and staff all seem to have “sensed something,” yet none take action.
The series reveals a harsh truth: school violence is not just a children’s issue; it’s also the symptom of an adult world that refuses to see.
5. Jamie’s escalation: radicalization and loss of bearings
In his sessions with the psychologist, Jamie reveals exposure to misogynistic online content. He mentions violent influencers and hateful rhetoric absorbed without filter.
We come to understand that bullying doesn’t originate on the schoolyard—it begins in a digital ecosystem that fuels, normalizes, and even glorifies violence.
Tools to Prevent, Detect, and Act: The Example of Netethic
Faced with such complexity, preventing school bullying can no longer rely solely on awareness campaigns or well-intentioned words. It requires concrete, adaptable, and intelligent tools.
This is the vision behind Netethic — a software solution designed to combat school bullying, now adopted by several institutions.
Netethic provides:
Automated detection of weak signals (through anonymous surveys, school climate indicators, or supervised analysis of online interactions)
Secure reporting of at-risk situations, without stigmatization
Educational support for teaching teams and students
It’s not a miracle solution. It’s a smart, preventive lever that fosters a more peaceful school climate — and puts the victims’ voices back at the center of the system.
Netethic doesn’t replace human vigilance. It enhances it.
Conclusion: What Can We Do With a Series Like Adolescence?
The strength of Adolescence lies in its realism without moralizing. It doesn’t look for obvious culprits. Instead, it dissects a collective mechanism — an ecosystem of silence and cowardice — where anyone, whether student, parent, or teacher, can become an unwitting accomplice.
Watching this series means confronting what we too often choose to ignore.
But it’s also an opportunity to spark change.
Speak up. Educate. Prevent.
And above all, act.
Watch the series via this link.
