10 Best Teen Shows Streaming On Netflix Right Now

Outsized emotions, awkward interactions with your peers, the struggle of trying to figure out who you are — these are some of the experiences that characterize life as a teenager. The highs and lows of being a young adult make for great television, which is probably why the genre is so popular among viewers of all ages. Netflix has consistently been leading the pack when it comes to YA drama, producing popular teen originals and offering older classics for new generations to enjoy.

Watching teen TV — on Netflix and elsewhere — can be a cathartic experience, asking the viewer to relive their younger years or compare the show’s events to their life today. Teen TV can also be escapist in nature, bearing no resemblance to our lives but providing plenty of entertainment value. We’ve watched teenagers do their thing within the context of drama, comedy, animation, and the supernatural, and we can’t seem to get enough. If you’re looking to make the most of your Netflix subscription and satisfy your craving for teenage stories, this list is a great place to start. Here are the 10 best teen shows on Netflix.

One of our favorite coming-of-age shows, “Never Have I Ever” is smart, nuanced, and most importantly, laugh-out-loud funny. Created by Mindy Kaling, the series follows Devi Vishwakumar (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan), a high school student ready for a fresh start following her father’s death. Devi is, in her own words, “ready to bone,” and is hoping to have an all-American high school dream in her sophomore year. She has her heart set on the dreamy, chiseled Paxton (Darren Barnet), though her academic nemesis Ben (Jaren Lewison) keeps getting in the way.

Though Devi often daydreams about a potential boyfriend, the series is in many ways defined by its relationships between women. Devi and her friends, Eleanor (Ramona Young) and Fabiola (Lee Rodriguez), are on journeys of their own, and they support Devi even when she’s being a bit of a jerk. Devi frequently butts heads with her mother, Nalini (Poorna Jagannathan), who has different hopes for Devi’s future, but she’s far from a caricature of an immigrant parent.

The show is, rather perplexingly, narrated by tennis star John McEnroe, and somehow, this makes perfect sense. Like us, he’s rooting for Devi, despite the many mistakes she makes and her impulsive, temperamental behavior (something McEnroe can relate to). Ramakrishnan is a total star, epitomizing Devi’s youthful swagger in a hilarious fashion. The show is both painfully funny and at times just plain painful, a potent portrayal of the ups and downs of being a teenage girl.

“Sex Education” is one of our favorite shows on Netflix, and its take on teens is a unique one. The British series follows Otis (Asa Butterfield), the teenage son of bohemian sex therapist Jean (Gillian Anderson). Otis knows a lot about sex and how to talk about it, but he’s too sexually repressed — and perhaps a little too educated — to get off. When his school’s resident sexually promiscuous bad girl, Maeve (Emma Mackey), convinces him to start a covert sex therapy clinic at school, he uses his powers for good, counseling his peers about their sexual foibles and insecurities.

Never has a show about sex been so sweet. Despite its raunchiness and frequent graphic nudity, “Sex Education” is defined by a kindhearted, empathetic approach to its characters and all of their sexual eccentricities. Even the oddest characters, like Lily (Tanya Reynolds), who writes alien erotica, are given interiority and treated with respect.

The show does a brilliant job reminding us of the diversity of young adults, both sexually and otherwise. The series features numerous LGBTQ+ characters, including Lily and Otis’ best friend, Eric (Ncuti Gatwa), and many of them are people of color. All of these characters exist beyond stereotypes, and “Sex Education” gives us the chance to get to know teens from all walks of life — from the jocks to the nerds to everyone else. The performances are fantastic, with every actor embodying an ideal balance of confidence and insecurity that sets the tone perfectly.

When you’re in the thick of puberty, it’s not exactly a barrel of laughs. But, as it turns out, this objectively bizarre experience makes great fodder for a vulgar and hilarious television show. Created by Andrew Goldberg, Nick Kroll, Mark Levin, and Jennifer Flackett, the animated Netflix sitcom follows a group of middle schoolers as they deal with their bodies’ hormonal changes. The show personifies these changes via hormone monsters (two of whom are voiced by the great Maya Rudolph), who encourage the kids to act on their horniest, most devious impulses.

You’ve probably never seen anything like the animated creations on “Big Mouth,” which include talking pubic hairs, a penis that wears a yarmulke, an anthropomorphic vagina, a Maya Rudolph-voiced bath mat, a painfully self-aware pit bull voiced by Ludacris, and the ghosts of many famous figures, including Antonin Scalia, Duke Ellington, and Elizabeth Taylor.

The humor on “Big Mouth” is quite crude, and probably not suitable for actual middle schoolers. But as coarse as the show is, it’s also extremely heartfelt and has a lot of empathy for these tweens despite their predictably immature behavior. The hormone monsters are wonderful, and the villainous Shame Wizard (voiced by David Thewlis) is a brilliant creation. The series creators had enough material for eight fantastic seasons, making it one of the longest-running Netflix shows of all time.

“Heartstopper” is one of the best feel-good shows on Netflix, and we imagine that’s just what the creators intended. Written by Alice Oseman and based on her graphic novel of the same name, the series follows a group of teenagers living in England. We meet Charlie (Joe Locke) as a 14-year-old. The only gay kid at his school, he’s outed by bullies and struggles with anxiety, self-esteem, and an eating disorder. Charlie’s best friends are film lover Tao (William Gao), quiet, bookish Isaac (Tobie Donovan), Elle (Yasmin Finney), who’s trans and recently transferred to a girls’ school, and Tara (Corinna Brown) and Darcy (Kizzy Edgell), who are dating.

Much of the series centers on Charlie’s relationship with Nick (Kit Connor), a bisexual rugby player and popular kid. Their relationship is incredibly sweet, and the show spends time exploring both the charming aspects of first love and the many difficulties of growing up, especially when you struggle with your mental health and are part of the LGBTQ+ community.

“Heartstopper” manages to touch on a huge array of social issues without ever getting preachy. It’s lovely to spend time with this group of friends, and the show feels like a wonderful fantasy world while still acknowledging the devastating effects of mental health issues, homophobia, and transphobia. It’s a tricky balancing act Oseman pulls off, and it works beautifully thanks to an engaging cast and earnest, heartfelt scripts. But be warned – this romance may cause you to cry happy tears.

“Teen Wolf” is one of the most entertaining YA supernatural shows out there, providing the perfect blend of teen angst, horror lore, and the most attractive group of high schoolers you’ve ever seen. Similar to “The Vampire Diaries,” “Teen Wolf” takes place in a small town that happens to be a hotbed for supernatural activity. Tyler Posey plays nerdy lacrosse player Scott McCall, who gets bitten by a werewolf during a trip to the woods with his BFF, Stiles Stilinski (Dylan O’Brien), while they hunt for (half of) a dead body. Scott suddenly gets hotter and better at lacrosse, and discovers he’s a werewolf with some reluctant help from grumpy mentor Derek Hale (Tyler Hoechlin).

The show doesn’t limit itself to werewolf mythology, and the big, sometimes incomprehensible swings it takes with supernatural lore are a large part of the fun. In addition to werewolves, the show includes banshees, kitsunes, werecoyotes and werejaguars, hellhounds, ghost riders, skinwalkers, and many more.

Zany plotlines aside, the show’s best quality is its cast, who commit fully to the bit (no pun intended) and have great chemistry. Crystal Reed plays a werewolf hunter who falls in love with a werewolf; Holland Roden plays Lydia Martin, a popular girl and a banshee who can predict supernatural occurrences; and Colton Haynes plays an arrogant rich kid hoping to wolf out. The friendship between Scott and Stiles is the heart of “Teen Wolf,” though it’s easy to fall for everyone in this kooky pack.

The feel-good Netflix show “Derry Girls” finds the perfect balance between specific and universal. It follows a group of teenage girls (and one boy) living in the town of Derry, Ireland, in the 1990s, during the last few years of the Troubles. Amidst the surrounding political violence and uptight morality of the Catholic school they attend, the girls of Derry cannot help but be their giggly, shenanigan-prone selves.

The group is led by the self-obsessed Erin (Saoirse-Monica Jackson). Her friends include self-proclaimed “wee lesbian” Clare (Nicola Coughlan), oddball Orla (Louisa Harland), the rebellious Michelle (Jamie-Lee O’Donnell), and the unfortunately English James (Dylan Llewellyn). The hijinks they get into — like accidentally feeding weed-laced scones to everyone at a memorial – are always hilarious, and everyone in the squad is wonderfully strange and unique.

Despite the very serious political and religious context in which they were raised, these teens can’t be bothered to worry about silly things like the state of the Catholic Church or the fact that they might be bombed at any moment. This apparent dichotomy, between the larger social context and the relative frivolity of these characters’ concerns, is part of its charm. All of the characters are so wonderfully rendered and distinct, including the adults, like the comically serious Sister George Michael (Siobhán McSweeney). It works as both an irreverent sitcom and a heartfelt coming-of-age tale.

Many teen shows follow the trials and tribulations of the wealthy and the class divisions among high school students, and “Elite” puts its own juicy spin on this familiar formula. The sexy Netflix series takes place at a posh private school in Spain called Las Encinas. Most of the students there are wealthy and connected, apart from our three protagonists, who act as bold explorers into this exclusive world. Samuel (Itzan Escamilla), Nadia (Mina El Hammani), and Christian (Miguel Herrán) are all scholarship students at Las Encinas, and their encounters with their privileged peers expose the class divisions society is predicated on.

Also, there’s murder. Almost every season begins with a murder mystery, in which the cracks in the school’s facade of harmony are revealed. To be fair, the series doesn’t need a murder mystery to be entertaining — the typical high school drama does just fine. Love triangles and other romantic entanglements abound, as do various exploits involving sex and drugs. The “Big Little Lies”–esque mysteries just make things even juicer, with a non-linear narrative that invites you to binge a whole season.

Though it’s full of campy fun, “Elite” is also slyly perceptive about the complex dynamics that define life at a school like Las Encinas. In addition to class division, the show explores racism, Islamophobia, homophobia, and other serious issues facing youth. Combine that with pulpy mysteries and salacious teen drama, and you’ve got yourself a winner.

The iconic Texas-based show “Friday Night Lights” is one of the very best shows about high school, and its legacy remains undefeated. Set in the fictional town of Dillon, Texas, the show is based on a non-fiction book by H.G. Bissinger (which was also adapted into a film). Kyle Chandler plays coach Eric Taylor, who leads the town’s high school football team. He’s married to Tami (Connie Britton), the school’s guidance counselor, and together, they work to keep the students on track to become happy, healthy adults.

Though we often see things from Coach Taylor’s perspective, the teens’ exploits are at the center of the show. The series features a group of young actors who were, at the time, promising up-and-comers. They include Zach Gilford, Taylor Kitsch, Jesse Plemons, Minka Kelly, Adrianne Palicki, and Michael B. Jordan. While the show is ostensibly about football, much of the drama occurs off the field, as the players learn to be adults and plan their futures. In many ways, Coach Taylor’s job is to teach these kids how to be good people and have fulfilling lives outside of the game.

Though it can get soapy, the series has a cinéma vérité style that keeps it feeling grounded, and it tackles important issues that aren’t often discussed in relation to football culture. Racism, poverty, and substance abuse are just a few of the struggles these teens face, and football is an antidote as much as it is a cause.

One of Netflix’s best original series, “On My Block” is something of a hidden gem. The show is set in Freeridge, a fictional, inner-city neighborhood in South Central Los Angeles. It follows a group of friends who’ve known each other since they were young. Monse (Sierra Capri) is the leader. She’s a scrappy tomboy with dreams of becoming a writer. Ruby (Jason Genao) is a math whiz beset with anxiety. Jamal (Brett Gray) has a highly active imagination and loves solving mysteries. Cesar (Diego Tinoco) is the younger brother of a gang leader, and his friends are always trying to keep him off the streets.

As they enter high school, the squad naturally starts to drift apart as they gravitate towards different cliques, but their long-standing bond keeps them connected. The show does an amazing job of perfecting tone, highlighting both the silly aspects of being a teenager and the real dangers they face living in their impoverished neighborhood. Season 1 features a kooky treasure hunt involving a roller rink, while also dealing with gang violence and other existential threats. This combination of humor and heartbreak differentiates “On My Block” from other teen shows, and all of its characters are wonderfully unique and well-drawn. The show ended on its own terms with Season 4, sticking the landing with flying colors.

Not only is “Veronica Mars” one of the best teen shows of all time, it’s also one of the best detective series. What began as a book idea evolved into a cult show, with Kristen Bell playing the titular character, cynical teenager Veronica Mars. Veronica’s dad, Keith (Enrico Colantoni), works as a private detective, and Veronica often helps him out on cases in their small beach town of Neptune, California. In addition to working with her dad, Veronica also takes on cases for her fellow students, exposing the many sins of Neptune High.

Veronica is an incredible character (played deftly by Bell), and both she and the show are more than meets the eye. “Veronica Mars” functions as both a high school drama and a noir, with Veronica serving as the hard-boiled detective, complete with a sardonic voiceover and frequent nighttime stakeouts. While Veronica appears aloof and unaffected, she’s hiding a painful trauma that’s explored throughout the first season (and beyond). As any female-centric detective show should, “Veronica Mars” addresses the prevalence of rape culture head-on and acknowledges how Veronica’s perspective as a teenage girl informs her work.

Though certain storylines are a bit over-the-top, Veronica’s unique understanding of the world is foregrounded, and her sarcastic but secretly caring attitude drives the show’s distinctive tone. Equally witty as it is heartbreaking, “Veronica Mars” is practically peerless in its singular exploration of teen angst.