Latest news with #HertfordshireCommunityFoundation
BBC News
30-07-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Hertfordshire teens speak out during 'Adolescence' workshops
Young people in a workshop tackling issues associated with the TV show Adolescence said "the damage had already been done" to a generation from social media and "helplessness caused by it can be devastating".The Netflix show has led to a national conversation about the impact of social media and "manosphere" influencers on the Swan Youth project in Berkhamsted, has used funding from the Hertfordshire Community Foundation, to teach teenagers about healthy relationships and how to recognise coercive Parul Dix said young people already felt "disempowered" by the "big social media cog that was whirring away, leaving them like fodder". Adolescence told the story of a 13-year-old boy who murders a female classmate, and became the first streaming show to top the UK's weekly TV ratings in March government is considering introducing tougher online safety measures to limit the amount of time children can spend on social media, but Swan volunteer Lex, 16, said it was "a bit late and that the damage had already been done".He felt things had "definitely got a lot worse recently with social media... at this point I don't really see a solution".Previous issues with social media meant he limited his time on the platforms, but he admitted he "probably needed to limit myself more".He said he preferred making connections in person and "didn't really socialise with people online" 17, said young people needed to be "responsible for themselves" and be disciplined in "not going to find content they weren't ready for" but she admitted social media could be "devastating", leaving people "helpless".She added that "schools can do things, but without funding and investment in education programs the responsibility falls upon establishments like The Swan". Megan, also 17, said Adolescence had definitely made more people aware of the issues and she said she had not known "the emojis had those connotations".In the drama, those meanings are explained to a detective by his her mum was a teacher, she worried she "had not had the specialist training to deal with things like that" in felt workshops like the one she had attended would be important "to be able to hear from young people themselves how they feel about the issues in the show". Ms Dix, who runs workshops, said they also looked at how teenagers handle rejection, as she said some youngsters use words like "frigid" to describe people that do not fancy added there was a need to educate teens to stop using words like "paedophile, pervert or rape" without "a real understanding of what they mean" as she worried that some became "labels that would stick to young people".She feared a whole generation had "gone through the process [of dealing with social media], and had come out really damaged as a result". Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
11-04-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Hertfordshire youth group hosts workshops after Adolescence drama
A youth group plans to hold workshops to tackle issues around social media and misogynist influencers after they were highlighted on the Netflix show Swan Youth Project in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, has supported 12 to 18-year-olds in the area for about 30 manager Parul Dix said one young person recently told her "quite boastfully" that they "had told a teacher they were going to rape them".She said the incident prompted her to focus on educating "boys and girls about what is acceptable, so they are not growing up into some of the influencers that we are seeing". Adolescence tells the story of a 13-year-old boy who is charged with the killing of a female classmate. The show has led to a national conversation about the impact of social media and "manosphere" influencers on children. Ms Dix said the series showed "all the complexities that young people today are seeing online, having to decipher what is real and and what is not and what they should and should not be". The workshops, which are for 13 to 16-year-olds and will be funded by the Hertfordshire Community Foundation, will also teach teenagers about healthy relationships and how to recognise coercive behaviour. The BBC spoke to three young people who regularly attended the youth 17, said teenage boys were under "a lot of pressure" to behave in a certain way and felt "toxic masculinity played a huge part in that".He said he has heard young people speak about "women in a derogatory way" and labelled it "disgusting" but "normalised".He added "there is an expectation to be a bit of a player and be confident when it comes to girls, which is not realistic".Suri, 16, said that the expectations for younger people, especially men, has changed from the "lean look" in the nineties to "going to the gym three or four times a week".She added that she thought there was pressure for girls to "act, particularly feminine" and that girls were judged if they acted "a bit more stereotypically masculine", such as if they sign up to play what she described as "less graceful sports".She wanted to highlight violence against women because she felt that if it was "normalised for the next generation, then we have got serious problems".Megan, 16, said toxic behaviour had become so common that "when she has a guy that is a friend who is really, really nice, that does not seem normal anymore".She added that when she was "11 or 12 she had been exposed to horrible things online, on really sensitive topics about self harm and stuff like that". If you have been affected by this story or would like support then you can find organisations which offer help and information at the BBC Action Line Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
