17.04.2025
Adolescence raises questions about the dangers of a digital disconnect between adults and young people. Is there a gap, and how do we bridge it?
Although it is common for a young person to feel that the adults around them do not understand their experience and their context, has the new digital milieu developed so rapidly that this disconnect is real? After all, what it is like to be an adolescent today is very different to what it was like to be an adolescent 20 years ago.
Netflix’s Adolescence has had a worldwide media impact, sparking conversation about the dangers young people can face in digital spaces, and the way these spaces can be esoteric to the adults in their lives.
Over the four episodes of the series, a digital disconnect between adults and young people is laid bare as the show follows Jamie, a 13-year-old boy, who is accused of murdering his classmate. We watch as the adults around Jamie struggle to make sense of the day-to-day world that adolescents today navigate: what they do online, the content they see and engage with, and how they interact with each other and the world around them.
By the end of the show, we’re left with a question that needs to urgently be addressed. How do we bridge the disconnect between young people’s digital experiences and adults’ understanding so that young people are better supported to navigate the online world safely? Many parents might understand the issues, or think they do, but feel helpless to respond.
There have been growing calls, internationally and within New Zealand, to identify the best approach for minimising digital harms. However, there is yet no conclusive answer that can adequately address the complexities of this issue.
Part of the problem is that we currently lack a clear evidence base on how social media interacts with adolescent vulnerability. The adolescent period is a time of profound developmental, psychological, and behavioural changes. It is a time when young people begin to establish their identity and sense of self as separate from their families. This comes with heightened sensitivity to changes in the social environment, feedback from peers, and a greater vulnerability to social exclusion and stress. And they have been impacted much earlier in their lives by factors that Koi Tu has previously detailed [insert link to previous Youth mental health reports by Jess https://informedfutures.org/youth-mental-health-factors/] that can affect these vulnerabilities even further. Against this complex developmental landscape, social media can greatly increase the psychological impact of negative socio-emotional experiences.
Although social media can amplify adolescent vulnerabilities, it is also a space where young people find support and connection. It is therefore important to learn how we can leverage the benefits that social media provides while safeguarding young people from the potential harms.
Adolescence is a period of enhanced neuroplasticity. This means that adolescent brains have an immense capacity for learning, adapting, and developing resilience. There is a window of opportunity for adolescents to learn how to engage positively and safely with social media, and how to reconcile the negative social experiences they might have online. As the world becomes increasingly digital, we need to make sure that young people are well equipped to navigate and flourish within it, and this will need to start much earlier in the educational journey.
Netflix’s Adolescence may understandably evoke in the viewer a sense of fear and panic. There will undoubtedly be further calls for an immediate response, such as a social media ban. But the reality is that the digital world is going to be part of all their lives and our lives into their future – we all have to learn how to navigate it and understand what it can do to help and to hurt us. We need to enhance our understanding of how social media and online spaces interact with the vulnerabilities of young people, but we also need to support young people to use online spaces safely and develop digital resilience.
We need to bridge the digital divide between young people and the adults around them. Adolescence presents a worst-case scenario, but it speaks to a real need to support and empower our young people. The first step is listening to young people – to learn from them about their experiences and engagement with online spaces. In Koi Tū we have been undertaking an intensive analysis of what young people in Aotearoa New Zealand think about social media and the impacts on their mental health – it has shown important insights. For example, young people told us that social media amplifies both negative and positive experiences. Our initial report can be found at https://informedfutures.org/youth-mental-health-factors/. With better understandings, we can build a toolkit of approaches to the digital world that aligns with what young people experience and what they need to be resilient online. They are our future.
Madeline Hayward is a research assistant at Koi Tū. She has completed her PhD in Health Sciences and her work in Koi Tū is focused on prevention and management of adolescent mental health.
Dr Seungyeon Kim is a fellow at Koi Tū. She has a PhD in Psychology and her work in Koi Tū focuses on policies to improve the wellbeing of children and families.
