'Don’t Judge, Talk Openly & Frankly': Child Psychologists On Netflix's 'Adolescence', Internet And Social Media
According to experts, children over 8 are old enough to undergo a supervised introduction to social media and the internet. Experts suggest that parents must not fear the internet. Early intervention and intelligent monitoring are key to your child’s digital journey
Don’t be judgemental, speak to kids in their language, and thoughtfully plan when and how to introduce the internet and social media to your young child—this advice, shared by several child psychologists with News18, comes in response to the Netflix series Adolescence, which raises tough questions for parents.
Adolescence is a British crime drama that premiered on Netflix on March 13, 2025, and the four-part series has become the most-watched limited series to date. It has amassed 66.3 million views in just 11 days.
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The series is based on the story of Jamie Miller, a 13-year-old boy arrested for the murder of his classmate, Katie Leonard. The series reveals that Jamie’s involvement in Katie’s death was influenced by his complicated relationships and the toxic pressures of his environment in school, followed by stimulations from the internet and social media.
The series has stirred debate around the globe among parents, especially of male children, to understand the views of teenage kids around topics such as masculinity, social media, bullying, or pornography.
While Indian experts believe that there is a cultural difference between India and other countries in how children view their parents and are often unable to discuss their private lives and emotions, News18 spoke to multiple experts to understand how Indian parents can supervise and advise their kids in the digital era.
Why do parents need to step up their understanding?
Recall a scene from the series where detectives struggle to decipher the coded language used by teenagers on social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook. They later find out that certain emojis, such as red pills, kidney beans, and the 100 symbol, carry hidden meanings within online subcultures.
This scene highlights a major gap between the understanding of children and parents or adults. “It’s not just kids who are struggling to keep up with today’s world, but parents would face greater challenges if they would want to learn or match with their kids’ understanding of social media," Dr Aishwarya Raj, a clinical psychologist at a leading public hospital, told News18. “Social media wasn’t part of the parents’ generation. Hence, it is difficult for parents to keep up with the latest trends. Rather, Indian parents tend to focus more on the academic growth of their children instead of focusing on overall mental growth."
She believes that now is the right time for parents to forget about the hierarchical gap and begin engaging with their kids by discussing taboo topics.
Also, experts highlighted that the majority of parents in India are not aware of the minor age settings in gadgets or applications. For instance, to protect young children, preteens, or teenagers, iPhones specialise in Apple accounts for kids called “Child Accounts" that help parents to manage the parental control settings and allow age-appropriate content for children under 13. Similarly, YouTube allows the creation of separate accounts for kids where the algorithm will only show age-restricted content for children—preventing exposure to other adult content.
‘Seeking validation’: Why do kids go to the internet and social media?
Similar to the series, psychiatrists consult many teenagers who struggle with an inferiority complex and image issues when their social media posts don’t do as well as their friends.
“Go back to our school days, in an era when we had no social media or internet. That pretty girl in our class—we were obsessed with her, wondering why we didn’t look like her. But that feeling of not being like her would fade as soon as we got home. For this generation, however, that comparison and feeling never go away — blame the internet and social media. It follows you and, at times, ends up giving you complexes that are unreal," said Dr Raj.
But the reality is that the internet is here to stay, probably forever. “It is we who need to learn to live with it," said Dr Eesha Sharma, professor at the department of child and adolescent psychiatry at the Bengaluru-based National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS).
While there are many advantages of the internet, there are many shortcomings as well. “By the time these kids grow up, the world will be even more complex," Dr Sharma said.
One of the biggest questions is why youngsters go to social media or the internet. For multiple reasons, but mainly to seek “validation", experts believe. Young children are emotionally immature and tend to follow a trend once they identify with one.
“Children who are not popular or don’t appear to be accepted tend to feel rejected and thus develop resentment. They join with similar other kids who also suffer similar resentment and need to find someone to blame," said Dr Jyoti Kapoor, a senior consultant psychiatrist and psychotherapist at Manasthali Wellness. “Due to emotional immaturity and inability to see the whole picture, their emotions get the better of them, prompting them to find heroism in standing up for perceived victimisation."
Because of the lightning-fast communication on social media, these groups grow like wildfire in the forest, and their voices grow louder. “The sense of belonging that comes from sharing a common belief makes them not question the belief, let alone examine or reject it," Dr Kapoor said.
Introduce social media and internet to your child under supervision, not by accident
According to Dr Aishwarya Raj, children over 8 years old are old enough to undergo a supervised introduction to social media and the internet. “We must not fear the internet. Some children end up topping exams using the internet, and then some end up committing cybercrimes. Early intervention and intelligent monitoring are key to your child’s digital journey," she said.
Some of the key steps parents should start with include encouraging open communication, being less judgemental, seeing the world from their children’s viewpoint, and educating themselves about social media and the internet.
“Most importantly, open communication," Kapoor pointed out. The social media algorithms are designed to keep people on their platforms as long as possible, and to do that, they keep presenting the same thing again and again. “Soon, it appears that the whole world is about that one person’s feelings and emotions. This leads to polarisation and radical notions," she said.
Hence, parents need to talk more to their children, discuss what’s going on in the world, what’s going on in their online life, and also how things can appear different from different perspectives—all without being judgemental. “Your kids will stop talking to you the moment they find you judging them. We have seen this in the Netflix series, too," Kapoor cautioned.
Sharma from NIMHANS believes that parents should plan the digital journey of their children as they plan various other things, such as admission to school, participation in co-curricular activities, planning for vacations, investment for college education, etc.
“The very first time, parents introduce mobile phones to kids when they are just two to three years old to play rhymes and cartoons. From here, the process begins. Once the child starts growing, start introducing social media and the digital world, but in the right manner. It should happen under supervision and not by accident. We need to create a template in the minds of our young kids about the good and the bad things on the internet. This will make our conversation comfortable at later stages," she said.
Sharma suggested that the Indian government should consider bringing digital literacy as part of the school curriculum to help children and parents understand this field better.
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