{"id":35546,"date":"2025-04-03T12:17:07","date_gmt":"2025-04-03T11:17:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.escuelacoaching.com\/?p=35546"},"modified":"2026-02-20T10:43:34","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T09:43:34","slug":"adolescence-is-the-mirror-in-which-a-society-sees-itself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.escuelacoaching.com\/en\/blog\/posts\/adolescence-is-the-mirror-in-which-a-society-sees-itself\/","title":{"rendered":"Adolescence Is the Mirror in Which a Society Looks at Itself"},"content":{"rendered":"

BY ROSA BARRIUSO. Teenagers reflect back to us \u201cthe shadow\u201d behind our apparent light and normalcy.<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s a show that many people are talking about\u2014one that invites reflection and awareness of a reality that often seems invisible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike other series that revolve around the hunt for a killer \"Who did it?\"<\/em> being the central question in every episode\u2014this one reveals the culprit in the very first episode. So if we already know who did it, what is the series really about?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps it\u2019s about trying to understand something as incomprehensible as the murder of a teenage girl by another thirteen-year-old. Episode by episode, we\u2019re shown different realities surrounding these adolescents. Each one invites us to search for the cause behind such an atrocious act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They suggest that the blame may lie with the education system, the family, the victim herself, the peers, or with a possible pathology in the perpetrator. It seems that unless we place blame somewhere, we can\u2019t understand how a thirteen-year-old could commit such a murder\u2014and we can\u2019t move on and maintain our illusion of normalcy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that\u2019s where I want to pose a question: Who do you think is to blame?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In coaching, we replace the concept of guilt with that of responsibility. <\/strong>And from that lens, I conclude that in today\u2019s society, the perfect storm is brewing for a situation as tragic as the one depicted in the show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 If we focus on the educational environment,<\/strong>what are your thoughts on how the authority of teachers has evolved today? Have we perhaps shifted from exercising power to not knowing how to earn authority? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By moving from more authoritarian models to more permissive ones, have we forgotten to create new educational models\u2014ones that preserve authority through mutual respect between students and teachers? Are we still struggling to exercise authority without resorting to punishment or violence? What if the foundation of authority were trust, assertiveness, and clear behavioral boundaries?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 When we turn our attention<\/strong>\u00a0to adolescents<\/strong>it's worth reflecting on the fear of rejection, fear of loneliness, and the powerful need to belong and socialize\u2014hallmarks of this life stage. In coaching, we talk about communication as the vehicle for relationship.<\/strong> Yet, in this era of hyper-connectivity, with countless tools to communicate in real time\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Could it be that we are more disconnected than ever?\nWhat role do\u00a0social media<\/strong>\u00a0play in adolescent loneliness and the various self-esteem issues<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What impact does online content have on their behavior? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The brain does not differentiate between fiction and reality. That\u2019s why we cry or feel fear while watching a movie. The issue is, when the brain becomes accustomed to seeing certain behaviors\u2014however fictional\u2014it begins to normalize them. This is why pilots need simulator hours: they create neural pathways that improve real-life performance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Viewing violence or sex is far from harmless\u2014especially for a brain as plastic and receptive as that of a 13-year-old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They may argue that \u201cit\u2019s not real\u201d<\/strong>because they\u2019re experiencing it through a screen that protects them from the harshness of real-life consequences. The problem arises when they face real situations they\u2019ve previously only seen behind a screen. As seen in the series, they often fail to grasp the difference between simulation and reality.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another theme worth exploring is the\u00a0the<\/strong>\u00a0generational divide<\/strong>While generational misunderstanding has always existed, it may now be widening due to unequal familiarity with technological advancements. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The question is:\u00a0How does communication occur within the family?<\/strong>How often is a WhatsApp message used in place of a more personal, face-to-face conversation?\n\nHow can we creatively foster the trust-based relationships that help parents better understand their children?\nHow much time and how many shared spaces do we create to be present with them? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As babies, we didn\u2019t need words to understand what they needed.\nDuring adolescence, could we be forgetting that it\u2019s through bonding\u2014not just verbal exchange\u2014that we can truly understand them, even if they don\u2019t always share?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And finally, the role of parents.<\/strong>It\u2019s important to examine how parents often internalize their children\u2019s mistakes as personal failures.\nThey ask themselves: What did I do wrong? When did I stop doing things right?\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The problem is, we\u2019re still focused on blame instead of acknowledging shared responsibility.<\/strong> When one parent blames the other for the child\u2019s behavior, they render the child innocent\u2014depriving them of the opportunity to learn and grow.\nIt\u2019s not about abandoning them, but as the show clearly demonstrates, the adolescent begins to take responsibility and face the consequences of their actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I believe the real purpose of this series is not to point fingers, but to examine what responsibilities we\u2014as adolescents, parents, educators, and society\u2014are failing to own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As long as we remain fixated on guilt, we avoid the deeper question:\nWhat responsibility are you willing to assume in addressing this very real issue in today\u2019s society\u2014an issue the series brings sharply into focus?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

ROSA BARRIUSO is an Executive Coach, Team Coach, and Trainer at the Escuela Europea de Coaching. She also leads and coordinates the Coaching, Adolescents, and Families area, and teaches in the Specialization Program for Adolescents and Families. Specialisation Programme in Adolescents and Families<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY ROSA BARRIUSO. Adolescents give us back \"the shadow\" that lies behind our apparent light and normality. There is a series that is on the lips of many and about which it is interesting to reflect and become aware of a reality that can sometimes seem transparent to us. Other series deal with the search for the murderer [...]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":35547,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[595],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35546","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-post"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escuelacoaching.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35546","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escuelacoaching.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escuelacoaching.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escuelacoaching.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escuelacoaching.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35546"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.escuelacoaching.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35546\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35548,"href":"https:\/\/www.escuelacoaching.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35546\/revisions\/35548"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escuelacoaching.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35547"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escuelacoaching.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escuelacoaching.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escuelacoaching.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}