NotTheEasyWay

Adolescence misses the mark. An unpopular opinion perhaps, but nonetheless the importance that politicians and broadcasters are placing on this fictional drama is, I believe, misplaced. Yes, its one-shot structure is brilliantly directed by Phillip Barantini and Stephen Graham is, as ever, a tour de force. But whilst this is a very good depiction of a family’s grief and bewilderment at how their child has become capable of such a callous and evil act, it never explains HOW Jamie has been driven to kill or WHY he sees it as a rational act. It is briefly talked about that this is a killing driven by being mocked online by the girl who becomes his victim, but that thread is left hanging. Though hinted at it never pushes as to what the influences have been to drive him there. For Keir Starmer to suggest Adolescence must be shown in all schools is a hopeless piece of political virtue-signalling, desperate to ride the coat-tails of popular opinion, illustrating that he doesn’t really want to understand the nature of the problem; What will teenagers get from watching it? The majority of boys who carry a knife do so because they believe others do, not because they are misogynist incels. The fear is of being stabbed themselves, not because they intend to attack teenage girls. There is a reason why boys make up the majority of victims, and why black boys are over represented in those statistics. Two weeks ago I led a debate in Parliament about ‘Knife crime amongst children and young people’. Perhaps if the Prime Minister felt the topic was truly important he might have made time for it to be discussed rather than the issue being forced by myself as an opposition backbencher. Until we are prepared to frankly and robustly address why our children are carrying knives, and more still why so many have become prepared to kill, we simply will not stop this senseless loss of life.