The star of the Adolescence show, Ashley Walters, has mentioned that watching the series led him to cut down on one of his sons’ screen time, banning him from touching any device for half of the week. The 42-year-old, who played DI Luke Bascombe in Adolescence, expressed his concerns about his son not always doing what he said he was doing. “No one wants to be the ogre parent that bans everything,” Walters said. “I don’t want them to feel different from their friends,” he stated in an interview with Men’s Health Magazine.
Adolescence, a critically acclaimed Netflix series, is the second biggest English-language series to date. The show centers around a 13-year-old boy arrested for murdering his classmate and explores themes such as “incel” culture (involuntary celibacy), misogyny, and online bullying.
When asked if he would like to return for a second series, Walters responded that his involvement in the show had directly affected his parenting. He has six children from two prior relationships with ex-partners and is married to actress Danielle Walters. Walters has mentioned that while he still wants to support his son’s passion for animation, he is now more cautious about giving him complete control over his online devices, realizing that he wasn’t always honest about his online activities.
“As parents, we support their passions. He’s got a lot of animation software on his iPad,” said Walters. “However, we suspect that sometimes he’s not really animating. So, we’ve cut down on his screen time. Half of the week, he can’t even touch his device. I’ve stepped in as a dad and suggested doing activities such as fishing to distract him from spending time online.”
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/jun/23/ashley-walters-son-screen-time-netflix-series-adolescence
