Rising concerns about UK citizens becoming radicalised by religious extremists based here and abroad has prompted the government to bolster efforts to prevent young people getting drawn into that world by improving education and support.
A number of programmes have aimed to engage young people in Muslim communities, with local youth organisations playing a key role in talking to young people about extremism and the links it has to discrimination.
The political and cultural sensitivity surrounding the issue make it a difficult subject to tackle. This prompted the University of Cumbria to run a conference last month aimed at bringing together youth work approaches in engaging Muslim young people in discussions of radicalisation, extremism, religious ideology, identity and foreign policy.
One delegate who works primarily with ethnic minority communities in south Manchester told the conference that young people want to talk about social issues linked to extremism, such as air strikes in Syria and racism, rather than extremism itself. “Much of the time, it’s the Islamophobia, bullying, name-calling – and it’s about how we address those issues more so than actually sitting down and having discussions about extremism,” she explains. “For the majority of young people, extremism is just not relevant to them and sometimes pushing it down their throat all the time is not the kind of approach we take.”
Mashuq Hussain, a senior youth worker at Marsden Heights Community College in Nelson, Lancashire, told the conference there needs to be a more open debate about terrorism, with young people needing to know that if they are to discuss the issue, it is not necessarily because they want to join Islamic State (see case study).
“It needs to be brought to the surface by adults, practitioners and professionals,” he said. “I work in schools every single day and when there is an issue, it is dealt with in a robotic sort of fashion.
“That is not the way to handle it. You should say ‘alright then, if you want to talk about it, that’s fine’.”
Barry Navarro, a community development practitioner and academic, added that the youth sector needs to shout louder about its role in preventing terrorism and helping confront radicalisation of young people. He outlined to the conference the “push and pull factors” that can lead to young people being radicalised (see box).
Another delegate suggested that mapping what discussions have taken place locally around radicalisation and extremism would be useful for helping youth groups link up efforts and better co-ordinate interventions.
The conference, at the university’s Lancaster campus, also heard calls for the sector to do more to empower young people to take action on how to confront the issue.
“We need to empower our professionals to create safe spaces for young people, because the challenge I have personally had is that professionals are given a one-hour [training] session and are then expected to be an expert on what extremism and radicalisation is,” one delegate said.
“We need to create spaces that take professionals on a journey of learning to understand the complexities of these issues and if we can empower more professionals with the skills and the knowledge to do that, that will have a knock-on effect with our young people.”
Lancashire youth group empowers young people to discuss social issues
YOUthside is a youth and community service based at Marsden Heights Community College in Nelson. It is overseen by senior youth worker Mashuq Hussain and offers a variety of after-school clubs and sessions every week.
Positive Voices 4 is one of its groups, made up of 20 young members who look to spread compassion around the wider community. By attending meetings after school, the group discusses issues that affect children, young people and others on a local, national and international level, such as fair trade and health. These sessions allow the young members to develop their skills and build on their self-esteem and self-confidence.
Furthermore, Positive Voices 4 also aims to encourage people to consider different perspectives on the world, which help to widen their horizons and better understand social issues.
Hussain says working with young people is all about building relationships and rapport. YOUthside has been successful because it has put a committee together, hooked the young people in and built a relationship with them.
“I think that is the only way,” he says. “It’s all about empowering them and getting them to take issues forward.”
One young person involved in Positive Voices 4 described what they had gained from it: “The youth work we do allows us to talk in a safe environment. Youth work has a major role in understanding how radicalisation and extremism is wrong.”
Another said: “The media portrays Muslims of all ages as terrorists. But you look at one British terrorist and you don’t look at the whole of the British community. If one Asian or Muslim person does wrong, then the whole community is labelled.”
A third added: “I joined Positive Voices 4 because I lacked confidence and it has helped me to gain confidence and visit places I never thought I would visit.”
Factors in extremism
Practitioner Barry Navarro outlines the factors that can push and pull young people towards extremist ideology
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This prompted the University of Cumbria to run a conference last month aimed at bringing together youth work approaches in engaging Muslim young people in discussions of radicalisation, extremism, religious ideology, identity and foreign policy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOne delegate who works primarily with ethnic minority communities in south Manchester told the conference that young people want to talk about social issues linked to extremism, such as air strikes in Syria and racism, rather than extremism itself. “Much of the time, it’s the Islamophobia, bullying, name-calling – and it’s about how we address those issues more so than actually sitting down and having discussions about extremism,” she explains. “For the majority of young people, extremism is just not relevant to them and sometimes pushing it down their throat all the time is not the kind of approach we take.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMashuq Hussain, a senior youth worker at Marsden Heights Community College in Nelson, Lancashire, told the conference there needs to be a more open debate about terrorism, with young people needing to know that if they are to discuss the issue, it is not necessarily because they want to join Islamic State (see case study).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“It needs to be brought to the surface by adults, practitioners and professionals,” he said. “I work in schools every single day and when there is an issue, it is dealt with in a robotic sort of fashion. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“That is not the way to handle it. You should say ‘alright then, if you want to talk about it, that’s fine’.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBarry Navarro, a community development practitioner and academic, added that the youth sector needs to shout louder about its role in preventing terrorism and helping confront radicalisation of young people. He outlined to the conference the “push and pull factors” that can lead to young people being radicalised (see box). \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnother delegate suggested that mapping what discussions have taken place locally around radicalisation and extremism would be useful for helping youth groups link up efforts and better co-ordinate interventions. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe conference, at the university’s Lancaster campus, also heard calls for the sector to do more to empower young people to take action on how to confront the issue. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“We need to empower our professionals to create safe spaces for young people, because the challenge I have personally had is that professionals are given a one-hour [training] session and are then expected to be an expert on what extremism and radicalisation is,” one delegate said. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“We need to create spaces that take professionals on a journey of learning to understand the complexities of these issues and if we can empower more professionals with the skills and the knowledge to do that, that will have a knock-on effect with our young people.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\u0022text-decoration: underline;\u0022\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLancashire youth group empowers young people to discuss social issues\u003c/strong\u003e \u003c/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYOUthside is a youth and community service based at Marsden Heights Community College in Nelson. It is overseen by senior youth worker Mashuq Hussain and offers a variety of after-school clubs and sessions every week. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePositive Voices 4 is one of its groups, made up of 20 young members who look to spread compassion around the wider community. By attending meetings after school, the group discusses issues that affect children, young people and others on a local, national and international level, such as fair trade and health. These sessions allow the young members to develop their skills and build on their self-esteem and self-confidence. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFurthermore, Positive Voices 4 also aims to encourage people to consider different perspectives on the world, which help to widen their horizons and better understand social issues.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHussain says working with young people is all about building relationships and rapport. YOUthside has been successful because it has put a committee together, hooked the young people in and built a relationship with them. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“I think that is the only way,” he says. “It’s all about empowering them and getting them to take issues forward.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOne young person involved in Positive Voices 4 described what they had gained from it: “The youth work we do allows us to talk in a safe environment. Youth work has a major role in understanding how radicalisation and extremism is wrong.” \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnother said: “The media portrays Muslims of all ages as terrorists. But you look at one British terrorist and you don’t look at the whole of the British community. 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