Dear Carolynn

Dear Carolynn.

It’s been a few weeks since we have spoken. Today I want to share with you my thoughts that stem from a YouTube video sent to me last night called ‘Gen Alpha is Becoming Dangerous‘. This video is a fairly detailed critique of a Netflix series released not long ago called Adolescence, which explores the real dangers that confront young people in todays world, and the serious flow-on affects of our failing them–particularly young boys.

While Adolescence is receiving high praise for its powerful yet uncomfortable story, there are also many detractors who want the series banned or hidden from discussion–and for the stupidest reasons.

Author: Mark Bolton. Subbing: DeepSeek

“I think the backlash against Adolescence shows that the vast majority of society cannot think critically about the messages being expressed by the media they’re consuming.”

Wolfgoddess7294 (YouTube comment)

The shocking rise in teenage stabbings is a global emergency. One simple Google search about stabbings in your country will confirm that this is a major issue. But behind every act of violence lies a tapestry of societal collapse: families fractured by cost-of-living crises, parents working brutal hours just to survive, and teens left fending for themselves in a world that offers them no guidance, no trust, and no safe harbour. The reality is that it is not the implement used to hurt, maim or murder that needs to be removed, the dangerous weapon is neglect.

“Adolescence”: A Mirror to Our Broken Systems

Critics dismiss Netflix’s Adolesence (depicting a teen’s fatal stabbing of a girl) as “racist propaganda” because the child suspect and his family are white; or that the series could make women ‘scared of their male children’ to offer two popular thoughts.

This backlash is a dangerous distraction. The series asks the only question that matters:

“What kind of society are we living in when young boys stab young girls?”

(Stephen Graham, co-creator of, and actor in Adolescense).

The answer, in my opinion lies in the voids we’ve created:

• Economic despair forcing single and dual parents alike to work longer for less, leaving teens isolated and angry.
• Punitive politics (like Queensland’s new LNP Government policies) prioritising over-the-top and dangerous punishment over prevention to appease a terrified public, whipped into terror by politicians and media using genuine tragedy to further their own gains and needs. And the former Labor Government did nothing worthwhile either to help prevention. To cut to the chase; politicians, media and communities ignoring the rotting foundations: poverty, child abuse, domestic violence, and generational trauma to name four.
• A culture of silence where we’d rather bury our heads than face hard truths.
• A world heading at warp speed towards AI where we will see not only high levels of unemployment, but also high numbers of applicants fight over the job scraps–all of these above problems will explode.

How Families and Communities Can Heal the Void

1. Acknowledge the Crisis Fueling the Violence

• Children aren’t “born bad.” They’re reacting to abandonment, economic hopelessness, and authority figures who’ve betrayed their trust.
• Minor crimes and defiance are screams for guidance – not proof of “out-of-control-criminal.”

2. Replace “Punishment” with Presence

• Governments: Stop scapegoating teens with band-aid laws (like social media bans for under-16s). Teens will bypass them – and we’ll lose their trust.
• Parents/Communities: Offer what teens truly lack:
  • Time (even 30 minutes of undivided attention daily).
  • Family connection at least once a week sit together at the dinner table and share information with each other. Make it a safe place for open dialogue; no criticism of opinions and thoughts allowed, and NO screens! Listen as well as hear.
  • Good and healthy food at the dinner table offering variety each time to not only consume better foods, but also to teach kids what is what, and where these foods come from.
  • Teenage angst every generation goes through growing pains, and poor decisions are part and parcel of this rite of passage to adulthood.
  • Fair discipline (Parent or guardian) Give yourself a chance to cool off before you act and make it inclusive. Say something like, “Reflect on your behaviour, while I reflect on what my actions will be, and we’ll decide consequences together tomorrow”.
  • Validation “I see your anger. Let’s talk about why”.

3. Fill the Void That Toxic Influencers Do

• Andrew Tate and radicalisers thrive where we fail. Isolating teens from social media won’t stop this – but critical engagement will:
  • Co-view content. Dissect how influencers exploit loneliness.
  • Build counter-narratives: EG True masculinity = empathy, accountability and resilience.
• Schools/Clubs: Host raw discussions about abuse, violence, and mental health. ‘Adolescence’ is a great starting point.
• Reinforce to both boys and girls that financial success does NOT make a successful human being.
• Reinforce to both boys and girls that looks and body are not what makes a man or woman a good person.

4. Demand Systems That Prevent – Not Just Punish

• Reject “tough-on-crime” theater that ignores root causes (like Queensland’s LNP policies).
• Fund community hubs where overworked parents can find support, and teens find mentors, not authoritarian figures (on duty police etc) because they are required to be authoritarian figures when prevention fails.
• Older adults volunteering their time to help young people understand the world we older ones came from while participating (without lecturing) in the things the young people like to do. For example, have them teach us how to do graffiti in a safe and open sanctioned space that we have lobbied councils and governments to provide.
• Normalise talking about the unspeakable (sexual abuse, family violence) – because darkness festers in silence.

The Stakes Couldn’t Be Higher

Idle hands are the devil’s workshop (an old saying I grew up with)

I wonder how many parents have prepared their children/teens for AI dominance? We see almost everywhere in the western world that younger people do not possess critical thinking skills, nor resilience–and now we have this technological behemoth about to virtually overtake all requirements to think–to problem solve.

I shudder more-so now as I take note at how ill-equipped adults of all ages are when it comes to AI. This technology is not going away and it’s a sad reality that every child/teen born from 2008 onwards will be affected–mostly negatively–and they are not prepared because WE haven’t prepared for ourselves what is looming large. Children not educated to think, to problem solve and without technology will grow up with brain atrophy before their brains are fully developed.

Banning open discourse, books, TV/cinema/streaming shows and social media won’t save the generations about to face harsh certainties in life. Hiding from the AI boom too will not ready them for these inevitables.

We all need to come together and spend more time educating. Punishing naive and insecure teens won’t heal the voids that create violence.

We bury our heads while kids bleed. We are the solution.
Shows like Adolesence aren’t just “hard to watch” – they’re a call to arms.
Parents, teachers, coaches, police, doctors, media: Talk. Listen. Fight for systems that nurture – not abandon.
Politicians: Fund prevention, not prisons.
Teens: Your rage is valid. Your life matters. We will not leave you to the wolves.

Real prevention starts when we stop blaming teens and start rebuilding the village that raises them, and these villages are rapidly becoming ‘smart’ villages.

These are just my thoughts and ideas. Yes, idealistic in some areas but vital in others. Not every story will have a happy outcome, but unless we start getting the beginnings correct, there will be very few happy outcomes.

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