Lessons from an Expert Webinar on Adolescence (the Netflix Series) +
+My Misconception Mentor Course for Educators; Gifted Online Program
“Overprotection in the real world and underprotection in the virtual world—are the major reasons why children born after 1995 became the anxious generation.”
-Jonathan Haidt, The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness
Hi, this is the GenWise team- we bring out this newsletter to help parents and educators to complement the work of formal schools and associated systems. We are also a founder-member of Gifted World- if you are interested in issues related to gifted education and talent development, and are looking for resources for students, do become a member of the Gifted World Community (membership is free).
Check out our upcoming courses for educators, parents and students in the ‘Upcoming Events’ section below.
The Netflix series Adolescence struck a nerve for many, not just for its heartbreaking portrayal of a young boy caught in a vortex of violence and vulnerability, but for the deeper questions it raises: What shapes adolescent beliefs? How do toxic ideologies take root? And what role do schools, families, and society play in this ecosystem?
Vishnu Agnihotri, co-founder, GenWise, attended a webinar titled ‘Toxic Echo Chambers - Reflections on the ‘Adolescence’ TV Series’ by SAMVAD of NIMHANS, after watching the series. He found the points made by the speakers and the participants (both were accomplished psychologists and psychiatrists) very insightful and has summarized some key points from the session (with the help of ChatGPT), which are shared below. If you are interested in seeing the entire 2-hour webinar, the recording is available here.
Please note that if you have not watched the series, there are spoilers in this post.
Toxic Echo Chambers: A Call for Reflection and Action
In a powerful webinar hosted by SAMVAD, (an initiative by NIMHANS on child protection and mental health), experts (counsellors, psychologists, psychiatrists and other researchers) came together to explore the disturbing questions the series raises-
What shapes adolescent beliefs?
How do toxic ideologies take root?
What role do schools, families, and society play in this ecosystem?
What emerged was not just an analysis of a show, but a collective reflection on the growing influence of toxic internet subcultures and the urgent need for empathetic, structural responses.
The Rise of Online Echo Chambers
We live in an age where adolescents aren’t just using the internet—they are being shaped by it. Social media platforms have become parallel worlds, with their own hierarchies, ideologies, and rules. As one speaker noted:
“Social media is not just the real world online—it’s the real world online mediated by algorithmic preferences.”
This algorithmic architecture favors strong emotional reactions, pushing adolescents into extremes—either fiercely agreeing or vehemently rejecting ideas. In such polarized spaces, nuance is lost, and echo chambers thrive.
The manosphere and incel communities, highlighted in the series and discussed at length in the webinar, are prime examples. They offer simple, seductive answers to complex adolescent insecurities—answers that often include deeply misogynistic and anti-feminist ideas. But their appeal lies not just in ideology. They offer belonging, identity, and a place to channel frustration.
The School as a Counter-Socializer
Many participants reflected on how schools inadvertently reinforce exclusion. Who gets labeled as “successful”? Who is seen, heard, and validated?
“If you’re not good at grades, sports, music, or dance—what are you left with? Who sees you?” — Sheila Ramaswamy, Team Lead, SAMVAD
The challenge, then, is to reimagine schools not as mirrors of societal bias, but as counter-socializers. Schools must consciously foster empathy, equity, and critical thinking. They must teach students to challenge toxic beliefs, not absorb them.
What Role Do Parents Play?
The grief of Jamie’s parents in Adolescence is both intimate and universal. Their helplessness mirrors that of many real-world parents—confused, guilt-ridden, wondering where they went wrong. But as the panel emphasized, blame is too simplistic.
“Parenting isn’t a manualized process. There’s no one way to get it right.” — Nina David, Participant
Instead of blaming, we must talk. Parents must co-parent with the internet. They need to create space for difficult conversations—about sex, anger, loneliness, masculinity. Because if they don’t, the internet will. Here’s an interesting article by a courageous parent about talking to children about these difficult issues.
One speaker shared a poignant memory:
“A child once said something casually sexist about women drivers. The parent didn’t scold him. He simply asked, ‘Who yells more while driving—your mom or your dad?’ That moment sparked reflection.”
It’s not about lectures, but perspective. Adolescents don’t need perfection from adults-they need presence.
Towards Constructive Confrontation
The psychologist’s conversation with Jamie in Episode 3 exemplifies an approach of “constructive confrontation.” It’s not about accusing or excusing, but about probing deeply, reflectively, non-judgmentally. This is a strategy educators and mental health professionals can use—asking reflective, Socratic questions that slowly create dissonance, allowing adolescents to reconsider what they thought they knew.
“We don’t create change by telling them they’re wrong. We do it by helping them wonder if they might be.” — Dr. Shakuntala Shastri
Creating Alternative Narratives
Ultimately, the answer to toxic echo chambers is not censorship—it’s counter-narratives. Adolescents must be shown that there are other ways to be strong, to belong, to find meaning. These narratives must come from parents, teachers, mentors, media—everyone.
As one panelist reminded us:
“You fight an idea with another idea.” — Dr. Shankar Shastri
For example, if a school highlights students who show courage by apologizing or standing up for peers—not just those who win debates or races—this redefines what strength means to students and in the larger culture.
Let’s be clear: there are no easy fixes. But we can start by creating spaces for dialogue, by making schools places of empathy, by rethinking parenting as partnership, and by ensuring our digital platforms serve the public good.
Let this series—and this conversation—be a wake-up call.
Upcoming Courses
My Misconception Mentor (Math Series- Primary and Middle)- for educators and parents
Early Bird Registration ends by May 20, 2025; Course starts June 7 and ends in Sep 2025
Online on Saturdays- 1 to 3 PM IST (Primary); 330 to 530 PM IST (Middle School)
‘My Misconception Mentor’ is an 8-session online course based on the data of top misconceptions identified by Ei ASSET, the leading diagnostic assessment in India and the UAE. ASSET data have been bringing student misconceptions and common errors to light for over 2 decades. By understanding the roots of these misconceptions, we prioritize the most pressing learning gaps. Focusing on addressing well-documented misconceptions, we prevent cascading learning gaps, build stronger foundations for later concepts, and improve learning outcomes. There are 2 series of Math courses- one covering grades 1-5 (primary) and another covering grades 6-8 (middle).
While the course is targeted at teachers, parents are welcome to participate. Parents who participated in our ‘Mathtastic Teaching’ and ‘GenAI for Educators’ courses found great value.
The course is composed of 2 parts
Misconception Decoder- The first two sessions directly focus on misconceptions and the most common errors as seen in national data from the ASSET assessment.
Deep Dive: Content & Connections- The remaining 6 sessions focus on Subject Knowledge, Pedagogical Content knowledge and teaching strategies in the context of specific topics.
More details about the courses are available in this document and the links therein.
Participants also have an option to register only for the Misconception Decoder part of the course.
Register for My Misconception Mentor (Early Bird Fee of INR 16,000- GST included)
Register for Misconception Decoder (Early Bird Fee of INR 4,900- GST included)
An example of a student misconception from ASSET data and how the course would help teachers address such learning issues is discussed below.
This grade 8 question was administered to 6710 students nationally.
Only 30% of students estimated the answer correctly (slightly less than 16). 27% said it would be slightly more than 4!
Symptomatic approaches to fixing this misconception would involve teaching tricks like "move the decimal point to make it a whole number" or giving rules like "when dividing by a decimal less than 1, the answer will be bigger than the number you started with".
Such symptomatic approaches are insufficient because
They don't address the fundamental misunderstanding (division and decimals here)
Students can't explain why their answers make sense
The learning doesn't transfer to new situations
Students struggle when numbers or contexts change
The misconception often resurfaces in more complex problems
Our approach helps the teacher go deep below the surface; sometimes she may even have to work with teachers in other grades to tackle the roots of such learning problems. It is a slower and more painstaking process that takes time as the teacher builds on her subject and pedagogical content knowledge and also how students think. However, it is also motivating and rewarding when you start seeing students make sense of their learning and come up with their own innovative methods. Most importantly, this approach results in a sustained change in the teacher’s mindset, knowledge and skills.
Misconceptions are just the tip of the iceberg- we don’t want to address just the tip but the root causes that form the huge underwater mass of the iceberg.
Thus, for the decimal division example shared above, teachers would, over a period of time, focus on building number sense beyond whole numbers, connecting division and fraction concepts etc.
Gifted Online Summer Program- July 2025- for students
Early Bird Registration ends by May 31, 2025
This program provides young school students a front-row seat to mind-expanding courses, brilliant mentors, and a tribe of gifted thinkers. Courses range from Astrophysics, Storytelling, Physics of Ancient Arms, Algebraic Patterns to GenAI and Scientific Inquiry (please visit this page for more details including the eligibility criteria for the program).
✅ 2 - 4 weeks of fun learning
✅ Each Learning Quest is 12+ hours of live, small-group sessions with world class mentors.
✅ Resources and assignments from each session help expand and consolidate your learning.
✅ Saturday Circles with inspiring guest speakers and alumni
✅ Quizzes, challenges, and chances to win recognition
✅ A fun and supportive online community where the child finds ‘their tribe’
✅ Certificate and written feedback at the end of the course
Dates: July 7 – Aug 2, 2025
Location: 100% Online | Serving Gifted Students in India & the UAE
Grades: 5–9 (2025–26 Academic Year)
Eligibility: Ei ATS top performers for advanced courses; Other courses open to all Gifted World members. Check details here.