It’s a raw reminder of what it’s like to grow up online, and how far behind most adults still are.
Netflix’s Adolescence doesn’t tell a story about predators or platform failures. It tells the story most adults don’t see: teenagers navigating love, shame, identity, and friendship in a world that never switches off.
From our perspective at Aiba, where our job is to help keep kids safe online, the show hits hard. Not because it’s shocking. But because it’s normal. This is the world teens are growing up in. And most adults are completely missing it.
The digital layer is constant
What Adolescence gets so right is how online life isn’t a separate space. It is the space. Group chats, DMs, private stories, they’re the backdrop for everything: first crushes, inside jokes, betrayals, breakdowns. Every emotion is amplified. Every mistake is captured. Every moment can be replayed.
There’s pressure to be liked, to be bold, to be seen. Sometimes that means pushing boundaries. Sometimes it means sharing more than you’re ready to. And when things go sideways — and they do — it’s fast, messy, and public.
The adult gap
Here’s the part we need to say clearly: most adults have no idea how this world actually works. Parents don’t get it. Policy makers guess. Even product teams, the ones building the platforms kids use, often design from the outside looking in.
That gap is dangerous. It’s where real harm slips through. Not because no one cares, but because no one is really listening.
It’s no easy fix, but we’re hard at it!
At Aiba, we build tools that help platforms see what’s really going on. Amanda, our AI moderation platform, is trained to spot the subtle stuff in context: peer pressure, escalation, toxic dynamics — not just the obvious red flags. And our real-time content filter, catches risk before it spreads.
We’re not here to over-police. We’re here to understand them better, and to give platforms the insight they need to step in early, with care, not punishment.
A call to platforms
If teens use your product, you have a responsibility. Not just to check boxes or write policies, but to truly understand the environment you’re hosting. Watch Adolescence. Pay attention to how fast things shift, how emotional the stakes are, and how invisible it all can be to outsiders.
Then ask yourself: are you doing enough to keep your community safe?
Final thoughts
Adolescence doesn’t hand you answers. It hands you truth. And truth is where better systems start.
At Aiba, we’re building those systems. Grounded in real behavior, backed by smart tech, and always driven by one goal: safer digital lives for kids and teens.
Because they deserve better. And we can do better.
