I’m writing this as a personal blog post from the heart, in the context of a gathering I lead for mothers and their preteen daughters—preparation for the changes of adolescence, in the body and emotions, and the mother-daughter relationship.
In May, I’ll be facilitating two such sessions, both of which are already full—but you’re welcome to invite me to offer this experience in other circles, in English, Dutch, or Hebrew.
These meetings were born out of a deep understanding that today’s girls need more meaningful spaces for rituals, conversation, body awareness, emotions, and connection.
I know how to support girls with gentleness, listening, and strength.
And one day, my sons will receive support like that too. Because today, more than ever, our children need not only parents but also more meaningful adults to walk alongside them.
More rituals to acknowledge change.
More voices to accompany their transition.
More inspiration to give them space to choose well.
And from that place, after watching the series Adolescent, I felt the urge to write.
Because something there hurt me, and lit me up.
And that’s where this post begins…
When I watched *Adolescent*, I cried through the final episode without stopping.
I’ve worked with women for years on topics like pregnancy, birth, Bat Mitzvahs, and menopause – and here comes a series that brings the world of boys and men to the center.
Maybe that’s precisely what shook me so deeply: as a mother of two sons, I’ve always had this lingering question – how is it that I, surrounded by so much femininity, am raising boys?
When my eldest was born, a healer friend said something that stuck with me:
“You’re raising your daughters to be strong, independent, sensitive, enlightened… but who will raise the boys who can hold them?”
So I have two boys. And I try to raise them with an open heart, with listening, with love.
But then this series came, and shattered my sense of certainty.
Because what are we doing? What aren’t we doing?
How do social media, video games, violent content, aggressive and sexual messaging – all seep so deeply into our sons’ identities?
What does it do to their minds, to their hearts, to how they see themselves and the world?
*Adolescent* is not just about a 13-year-old boy arrested for murder.
It’s a painful, moving indictment of the male psyche, parenthood, and a whole system that struggles to hold itself together.
It’s a protest against violent video games, against the media that humiliates and distorts,
Against the lack of boundaries, the pain that dissolves in silence, the emotional disconnect.
This boy isn’t just lost – he’s crushed again and again, even when it doesn’t appear that way.
The humiliation he experiences online, the media that exposes his body and erases his soul, prevent him from truly growing.
And the psychologist, who’s supposed to be a grounding figure, also doesn’t know how to handle it.
Even the parents, doing their best, realize a child can grow up in a loving home and still not understand that *you must not kill*.
Yes, it’s that extreme.
And the series is so clever – it makes us connect with him. Pity him. Love him.
For three episodes, we’re entirely on his side, wanting to believe he’s innocent, feeling his vulnerability, his sweetness, and his need for love.
Then we remember – we saw the footage in the very first episode. We saw what happened.
But like his father, we still can’t believe it.
Because our hearts don’t want to let go of that boy.
Because we want to believe we gave enough for him to make a good choice.
But the truth hurts.
The choice isn’t always only ours.
We don’t raise children alone – it takes a village.
But what if the village is toxic?
What if that village is social media? What if the education system, which is supposed to be a safe space, has collapsed?
What if it no longer sees the child, only grades, behavior, and the ability to conform?
What if it doesn’t teach emotions, doesn’t cultivate body and self-awareness, but only trains children to become part of the system?
And this isn’t just a problem of one country.
Not just in England. Also, here – even in the Netherlands – we see a system that’s lost its way.
A system that misses the child. The human.
“My father made me – and I made Jamie.”
This sentence echoes in me again and again.
How much responsibility do we have?
And how little control.
*Adolescent* isn’t just a powerful drama.
It’s a mirror.
It’s pain.
It’s a call.
It’s a profound dilemma of an entire generation.
This is not just a story about men.
It’s a story about all of us.
So yes – go watch Adolescent.
Not because it offers solutions, but because it opens our eyes.
Because it sparks a brave, honest, and painful conversation that begins to stir something inside.
Because it brings to awareness what most of us would rather suppress, and forces us to ask hard questions.
And also, because it’s created with cinematic brilliance.
The entire series is filmed in one shot, intensifying the suffocating, breathless feeling of the experience itself.
And the boy, in his first-ever acting role, is simply a phenomenal actor.
So watch. Because maybe from there, through the willingness to honestly look and take responsibility, change can begin.
For more information or to invite me to facilitate a mother–daughter session,
Feel free to contact me via WhatsApp or email:
Phone: 0644347375
Email: oda.meiberg@gmail.com