THE creator of Netflix hit Adolescence has backed calls by the mother of murdered transgender teenager Brianna Ghey to ban smartphones in schools.
Jack Thorne told Esther Ghey her campaigning around restricting smartphone and social media use for under 16s was ‘remarkable’ and agreed better legislation was needed to help parents navigate the dangers of the internet.
He also urged the Government to stand up to global tech giants to protect children.
Mr Thorne, a five times Bafta award-winner, was speaking to Ms Ghey for the latest episode of the Mail’s Parents versus The Internet podcast, which is released today.
Ms Ghey, 38, admitted she found it difficult to watch Adolescence, which follows the story of Jamie, a 13-year-old boy who stabs and murders a girl in his class, and his parents, who struggle to accept what he has done.
Following Brianna’s murder, in February 2023, Ms Ghey called for compassion and empathy for the parents of her 15-year-old killers, Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe. She has also since become friends with Emma Jenkinson, Scarlett’s mother.
Ms Ghey said: ‘It was such a powerful watch, and there were so many things in it that resonated. I feel like I’ve lived this. From the start, I really understood and had empathy for the other families, because they too have lost a child.
‘The ending of Adolescence, where Eddie (Jamie’s father) is on the bed crying, I thought to myself, ‘the amount of times that I’ve done that in Brianna’s bedroom.’ And I imagine that the perpetrators’ parents did as well. So, it was extremely powerful. This horrific crime that happened has impacted so many people. It’s like a ripple effect.’
Brianna documented her transition to her thousands of followers on TikTok and, prior to her death, Ms Ghey had been very worried about how many strangers she was speaking to online.
The 16-year-old, who was hospitalised with an eating disorder, also accessed upsetting self-harm and pro-anorexia content on social media.
Eddie Miller, played by Stephen Graham, sobs on his son Jamie’s bed at the end of the Netflix drama, Adolescence
Owen Cooper as Jamie Miller in Adolescence
Mr Thorne, who has a nine-year-old son, admitted he feels ‘scared’ for his son’s future and revealed he has signed up to the Smartphone Free Childhood campaign and is committed to not allowing him access to social media until he is 14.
He said the new Online Safety Act, which the Government hopes will help protect children from harm but has been criticised for being too weak, has holes in it a ‘mile wide’ and schools and parents needed more help from Whitehall to implement phone and social media bans.
He also cited the election of Donald Trump, who was supported by the bosses of Facebook, Twitter and Google at his inauguration, as being a barrier to better legislation and protection for children.
‘The Government is in a really difficult position,’ he said. ‘The election of Trump, those three men sitting behind him at his inauguration, are the tech giants, the richest men in the history of the world, and they wield so much power.
‘If we’re trying to negotiate our way into securing jobs, securing trade agreements, it is very hard to stand up against those three mighty giants. I know that there are MPs that are absolutely determined to make change happen, I just hope that they can get enough public support behind them, because I don’t see the Government being able to lead on this.
‘I think (Technology Minister) Peter Kyle is anti it, and he’s in a position of extreme importance, and I think Keir Starmer is unsure as to what the best course of action is (but) I am utterly sure that they should be legislating, because parents need to be safe from being the arbiters of this, because (that) puts them at war with their children.’
Adolescence writer Jack Thorne meets Prime Minister Keir Starmer at 10 Downing Street
Esther Ghey, mother of murdered trans teenager, Brianna Ghey
Brianna Ghey, 16, who was murdered in Culcheth Linear Park, Warrington, in February 2023
Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe, both 15, were convicted of murdering Brianna Ghey
CEO of Meta and Facebook Mark Zuckerberg, Lauren Sanchez, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk attend the inauguration ceremony of Donald Trump in Washington, DC, on January 20, 2025
Mr Thorne said he was watching with interest the situation in Australia, where the Government has pledged to ban social media for under 16s.
‘I think eventually it will go the way of cigarettes,’ he said. ‘Eventually, they’ll realize that this is as damaging as cigarettes. But in the short term, it’s really interesting that possibly the most masculine culture I know of, the Australian culture, is the one that’s going for this. And if they can make it a success, the good that could do around the world, not least in standing up to (the likes of) Elon Musk, and proving that it doesn’t damage their economy. To stand up to Musk would be huge.’
Adolescence is Netflix’s second most popular programme of all time and has been watched by a staggering 141million people worldwide.
It stars break-out teen actor Owen Cooper, who plays killer Jamie Miller, and Stephen Graham, who plays his father, Eddie, and also co-wrote the hit four-part series.
Listen to the full episode now by searching for Parents v The Internet wherever you get your podcasts.
