A Gloucestershire professor has praised the critically-acclaimed Netflix drama series ‘Adolescence’ for raising questions about how children can be protected from online harm.

Adeela Ahmed Shafi MBE, Professor of Education in Youth Justice at the University of Gloucestershire said the series highlighted societal issues around the pervasive influence of social media on young minds and the treatment of children in trouble with the law.

The professor has a background in psychology and education, teaching for over 20 years.

Professor Shafi said: “In an extremely powerful way, Adolescence unpacks the impact of social media on children and young people, and opens up a dark world that many parents would have been completely unaware of, for instance the secret emoji codes children are shown to use to communicate online.

“We think they're safe in their bedroom because traditionally that is what used to happen, but the programme opens up to us the extent to which our children are roaming the streets, effectively, but in their bedrooms, through the phone in the palm of their hand.

“The programme raises important questions for parents, adults and society as a whole in terms of what is happening to our children through the impact of social media - it’s certainly not going away and it will continue to change and evolve.”

‘Adolescence’ tells the story of 13-year-old boy, Jamie, who is arrested following the murder of a female schoolmate, Katie. Jamie is held at a police station for questioning and then remanded in custody at a secure training centre. Investigations reveal that Jamie was subjected to bullying on social media and exposed to misogynistic material.

The show was co-created and written by Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham, who also created the popular film ‘Boiling Point’. Graham stars in both, playing the role of Jamie’s father in ‘Adolescence’.