Keeping children and young people safe against radicalisation and extremism

The carer and child relationship is the basis to keeping children safe and supporting their social and emotional development and educational achievement. Caring can be a challenging task. Maintaining a cohesive and positive relationship can sometimes be challenging as children develop and seek an individuality that may be different from their paternal families. Young people have a curiosity which as carers we want to encourage. However, as our young people develop we have to take different steps to ensure their safety. Currently, a number of young boys and girls have been convinced to leave the country against the wishes of their relations, or in secret, putting themselves in extreme danger.

Why might children be drawn towards extremist philosophy?

· Searching for answers about identity, faith and belonging
· Driven by the desire for excitement and adventure
· Driven by a need to raise their self-esteem
· Drawn to a group or individual who can offer identity, support and social network
· Influenced by events around the world and a sense of objection resulting in a need to make a difference.

How might this happen?

Online

The internet provides interaction. Young People may need to spend time on the internet while studying and they use other social media and messaging sites such as YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, etc. These can be useful but we need to be cautious there are influential networks and programmes that use these media to reach out to young people and can communicate extremist messages.

Peer interaction

Young people and Children at risk may display extrinsic behaviour, start getting into trouble on the streets or at school and mixing with other young people who behave badly but this is not always the case.
Sometimes those who are vulnerable may be encouraged, by the people they are in contact with, not to draw attention to themselves. As part of some forms of extremism and radicalisation parents may feel their child’s behaviour seems to be improving: children may become discreet and more solemn about their studies; they may dress more conservatively and mix with people that seem to be better behaved than previous friends.

TV and media

The TV and media provides a view on world affairs. However, this is often a very simple version of what is actually happening which are in reality very complex. Therefore young people may not understand the situation in detail or appreciate the dangers possibly involved in the views of some groups.

To learn more about Radicalisation and Extremism within Children’s Homes and Fostering call The Social Care Training Hub on 0161 870 6200 or visit www.thesocialcaretraininghub.co.uk