It comes as MPs are set to hold a debate on knife crime amongst children and young people. Bartholomew Hall reports.
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00:00It's the most watched TV show on Netflix worldwide. Stephen Graham's adolescence follows the story
00:10of a 13-year-old boy accused of stabbing a girl in his class to death. The drama shines
00:15a light on the impact of social media, misogynist views and knife crime on teenage boys and
00:21their communities.
00:23Following its rapid popularity, the show has now led to calls for it to be shown in classrooms
00:27and was even brought up in Prime Minister's questions this week.
00:31It highlights online male radicalisation and violence against girls. The creators of the
00:37show are calling for screenings in Parliament and schools to spark change.
00:42At home we are watching adolescence with our children. I've got a 16-year-old boy and a
00:4614-year-old. This violence carried out by young men, influenced by what they see online,
00:50is a real problem. It's abhorrent and we have to tackle it.
00:57Sitting close by, Chatham and Elsford MP and former teacher Tristan Osborne.
01:01I agree 100% that this should be used as a template example to warn young people of the
01:09influences of social media and where it can lead to and ultimately the harms that can
01:15come from it.
01:16In the past 10 years, the UK has seen a 94% increase in offences involving a knife or
01:22similar weapon, with 57 young people under the age of 25 killed with one in the year
01:28to March last year.
01:30The issue appears to persist here in Kent too, with a Kent Online investigation finding
01:35Kent Police dealt with 58 reports of someone possessing an offensive weapon in a school,
01:40college or university in the county, with knives listed in the bulk of alleged crimes.
01:45It all comes as today MPs will hold a debate on knife crime amongst children and young
01:50people. Former gang member and Dartford campaigner Lennox Rogers says tougher measures would
01:56deter youngsters from turning to knife crime.
01:59It's not enough to just ban the sale of knives. Those things, as helpful as they are in some
02:08way, they're not enough of a deterrent for young people. There are ways that Netflix
02:13can draw attention to it, I think by showing the impact of real life stories on the victim's
02:20families and I think that's very powerful.
02:23After I turned my life around and when I finally got to meet my son, who was showing signs
02:29of wanting to use a knife to harm someone, I shocked him to the police. But sadly, he's
02:38doing 22 years in prison. He stabbed someone nine times. Nothing was done to prevent him
02:48from doing that and someone lost their life.
02:52So with the drama's popularity continuing to grow, it appears adolescence could be another
02:56in the list of real world shows aiming to push for social change.
03:01Bartholomew Hall for KMTV