The 42 year old actor said he was drawing back his son's screen time as he is concerned that children and adolescence are not always doing what they say they are on their devices. He tell's Men's Health UK, “You get caught up in all of that stuff as a parent, but I feel like around the world this show has allowed parents to go: ‘F*ck that shit. Adolescence says this could happen; now we’re going to start having this conversation.’ I think that’s a good thing.”
The critically acclaimed Netflix series, tells the story of 13 year old Jamie Miller as he is arrested for murdering his schoolmate. The series is about knife crime in the UK, as the number of teenagers killed with a blade or sharp object has risen over the past decade. 'Adolescence' explores topics such as incel culture, misogyny, and cyberbullying. The show is now to be shown in schools across the UK. Find out more here.
Walters continued to say that he would love for there to be another series of 'Adolescence', however thinks that it would have an entirely different cast and storyline.
The 'Adolescence' star tells Men's Health UK, that the show has directly impacted his parenting. He has two children and a stepson with his wife Danielle Walters, and has six children with his two former partners. Walter's explains that one of his sons is particularly interested in animation and uses his devices to create and animate, however he states that he is now more cautious about giving his children full reign with their devices. He says, "No one wants to be the ogre parent that comes in and goes: ‘All right, that’s it. Everything off.’ I don’t want them to feel like they’re not the same as their friends."
"We’re really about uplifting and pushing the things that they love. He has a lot of animation software on his iPad and spends his time doing that. But sometimes he’s not animating when we think he is,” he told Men's Health UK. He states that he has become very conscious of this and has therefore drawn back on the amount of time he allows him to use his device, stating that he only has access for half of the week.
Walters continues to note on what he can do as a parent to reduce screen time for his children, "it’s about me stepping in as a dad and saying, 'let’s go fishing, let’s do more stuff’, so he doesn’t want to be on there as much as he is," he said.
