Schools's Back: Educating Yorkshire

In 2025 Britain was writing off a generation. Media narratives around teenagers had become overwhelmingly negative; portraying them as disengaged and beyond saving. This peaked following cultural moments like Netflix’s Adolescence; where political rhetoric painted a bleak picture of a generation. For many young people - especially those from underserved communities - this wasn’t just inaccurate, it was limiting. Their stories were being told for them. As a public service broadcaster, Channel 4 exists to challenge perceptions, and amplify unheard voices. Rather than speak about young people, we let them speak for themselves. We embraced the unvarnished chaotic greatness of youth, allowing teenagers to showcase their talents for themselves across Social, OOH, Radio and on air idents, culminating in a ‘one-shot’ film. Critically acclaimed as “a work of art,” by The Guardian it drove over 8 million viewers to the series but more importantly it sparked a national reappraisal of youth.