British Netflix series Adolescence to be shown in French schools, says minister of education

Published connected 09/06/2025 - 15:22 GMT+2•Updated 15:27

Following UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer welcoming plans to air Netflix’s deed show Adolescence successful secondary schools, France is pursuing suit, with French Minister of Education Élisabeth Borne stating yesterday that nan mini-series will beryllium screened from secondary schoolhouse level upwards.

In an question and reply for LCI news channel, Borne explained that nan shaper of nan bid “gave america nan rights” and that nan Ministry of Education was truthful going to “offer 5 acquisition sequences for young group based connected this series”.

These extracts from Adolescence, which person already been shown successful British schools to stimulate statement and effort to “prevent young boys from being dragged into a whirlpool of hatred and misogyny,” are “very typical of nan unit that tin beryllium among young people”, according to Borne.

The purpose is to thief raise consciousness of nan problem of “overexposure to screens and nan trivialisation of unit connected these societal networks,” arsenic good arsenic nan dispersed of masculinist theories and misogyny, argues Borne. 

The four-part bid follows really a begetter deals pinch nan fallout of his 13-year-old boy being suspected of stabbing 1 of his classmates to death.

Beyond nan spot-on acting, nan show has felt for illustration a taste wake-up call, arsenic it has prompted a wider chat about toxic masculinity and nan devastating power of nan alleged ‘manosphere’ connected young minds who are faced pinch websites and online forums promoting misogyny and ultra-conservative models of masculinity that flirt pinch far-right ideologies.

When it was confirmed that Netflix would beryllium making nan bid disposable to each UK secondary schools, erstwhile British Prime Minister Boris Johnson wrote a file for nan Daily Mail saying that he didn’t spot nan bully successful nan initiative, calling nan show “tosh”.    

He wrote: “In making this announcement pinch afloat premier ministerial authority amid nan ancient solemnity of nan furniture room, Keir Starmer has perfectly encapsulated nan basal flatulence of nan government, and its emetic finger-wagging substance of humbug and wokery.”  

Johnson went connected to opportunity that he believes nan move to show nan bid successful schoolhouse clip demonstrates nan government’s “cruel indifference to nan existent acquisition needs of children today,” adding: “In lawsuit you haven’t watched Adolescence I tin prevention you nan bother. It’s tosh - well-acted tosh.” 

Predictably, Johnson besides introduced title to his argument, saying that “unlike nan teenage mates successful this drama, nan victims and perpetrators are disproportionately young achromatic males.”   

The show’s co-creator Jack Thorne has already spoken retired connected this theory, saying, “It’s absurd to opportunity that (knife crime) is only committed by achromatic boys. It’s not existent and history shows a batch of cases of kids from each races committing these crimes.” Thorne besides stated that nan extremity of nan show was not astir “making a constituent astir race” but to make a constituent “about masculinity.”  

“We’re trying to get wrong a problem,” he added. “We’re not saying this is 1 point aliases another, we’re saying that this is astir boys.” 

The determination to show nan bid successful French schools comes aft Laëtitia Curetti, who has a 13-year-old son, wrote to Borne and launched an online petition to person nan bid shown successful secondary schools crossed France. Curetti stated she believes nan bid could beryllium an “excellent acquisition tool” to raise consciousness of nan dangers of societal networking, sexism, bullying and unit successful schools.

The chat surrounding weapon crime has accrued since nan occurrence of nan bid successful France. It has been further amplified aft a 16-year-old stabbed a precocious schoolhouse student to decease and injured 3 different chap students astatine the lycée Notre-Dame de Toutes Aides in Nantes connected 24 April.

"My thoughts spell retired first to nan teen who mislaid her life, to nan 3 students who were injured, and I want to definitive each my support and solidarity to these victims, their families and their loved ones," declared Borne astatine nan school, earlier paying tribute to nan "establishment unit who intervened and neutralized nan attacker."

French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said of "a calamity that rocks us." He said he was "appalled" and "shocked" by "the unit that has been unleashed," earlier adding that nan tragic incident was "not a specified news point but a societal issue."