Protecting children from manipulation by radical ideologies

Audiences around the world have been gripped by Adolescence. The Netflix drama tells the story of a 13-year-old boy who murders a girl in his school after becoming manipulated by online communities promoting violence against women.

Adolescence has struck a chord because it highlights some of the challenges facing today’s adolescents in moving successfully from childhood to young adulthood – in other words, in navigating the liminality of one of life’s key transitions. Living in a time of global unravelling, constant disorder and digital overload, children are finding their identities increasingly in flux. As communities become ever more fragmented, belonging becomes ever more elusive.

It’s not surprising that some are attracted by the easy solutions offered by gangs, radical movements and extremist ideologies. For boys and girls who feel they have nothing to lose and everything to gain, the promise of a clear role, recognition, connection and easy money can be highly tempting.

But that promise usually gives way to a bleak reality – violence, coercion and constant threats. Often, there is no easy way out. Children who do get away may face death; those who survive face stigma, rejection and social exclusion. What once felt like an escape becomes a prison.

Leaders in governments, businesses and humanitarian organizations need to do more to protect children from these groups. We need to ask what we can do to ensure children are provided with the opportunities to thrive and therefore to resist the temptations offered by gangs and radical and extremist groups who prey on their vulnerabilities.

Understanding the threat of radical movements

Children are typically manipulated by radical ideologies in three broad contexts:

1. Events unfolding in their family, friends or community: As Adolescence illustrates, some children struggle with estrangement and their longing to be in relationships. Boys especially may become manipulated through exposure to online misogynistic cultures, such as the ‘Incels’ – involuntary celibates – who blame and resent women over their inability to form romantic or sexual relationships.
2. Activities of local, and sometimes larger, gangs: Children, both boys and girls, who feel like outsiders in their families and societies may seek alternatives that appear to offer clear roles and goals and a sense of belonging. Children in these groups may be involved in murders and bombings targeting rival gangs or businesses that are not ‘paying their dues’. An example of this is the spread of gang violence in Sweden, particularly in immigrant neighbourhoods.
3. The lure of radical ideologies and armed groups: These groups may be active in actual armed conflicts or in hybrid contexts, like drug-related conflicts. Some are purely local while others have global footprints. They may recruit children offline and online, sometimes involving them in ‘terrorist-like’ incidents. For some children, such groups may satisfy a need for meaning and to do something that they feel matters in life and where they feel heard and seen. An example is the large-scale recruitment by Islamic State to fight in Syria, with children involved even today in various terrorist attacks around the world.

Why children are susceptible to being manipulated by radical ideologies

Regardless of the context in which it happens, the basic factors drawing children into manipulation by radical ideologies are often the same:

• Family and community breakdown: Both weak and authoritarian parenting can alienate children and push them toward malign external influences. Trauma, such as war and displacement, may also be a factor, as can peer influence and gang and armed group dynamics.
• Social alienation and lack of belonging: Children in rapidly changing societies may feel disconnected from traditional family and community structures, especially if they come from marginalized communities.
• Identity crises and search for meaning: Rapid societal shifts can leave youth confused about their role – an absence exploited by extremist groups with their promises of a clear, often rigid, identity framework.
• Economic and political instability: Unemployment, corruption and lack of economic opportunities may make radical alternatives appealing, as can the experience of injustices such as discrimination and police brutality.

What about the role of social media? For children, the online world is increasingly an extension of their daily reality, and many experience it in mostly benign ways. But online environments are inherently social spaces, making them potentially powerful amplifiers of radical views and drivers of manipulation. Social media algorithms also actively push radical content that reinforces grievances and provides validation for extremist views through anonymous online spaces.  

Possible solutions to prevent vulnerability to manipulation by radical ideologies

There are a number of actions leaders can put in place or strengthen to prevent exposure to manipulation:

1. Support and intergenerational dialogue can help parents better understand the threat and how to support children at risk of both offline and online manipulation by radical ideologies. Both governments and the private sector also bear responsibility for providing this support and education. Dialogue across generations, may allow open discussion between younger and older people and strengthen community and family bonds, while ‘coaching’ and ‘mentorships’ – however they’re defined – can connect at-risk youth with positive role models.
2. Inclusive education and digital literacycan give the children the skills to recognize propaganda and think critically, especially in the online space. Historic perspectives and civic education can help children understand societal changes constructively.
3. Modern, meaningful spaces can provide young people with a sense of belonging and real opportunities for self-expression and connection through music production, gaming and sports communities, storytelling and much more. These spaces – while sensitive to the local context – must provide something highly relevant for children to prevent risk behaviour, with activities and small-group activities giving them a sense of meaning and belonging. Spaces like these give children and young people freedom to share their experiences, including with gangs, without fear of judgment. (For some ideas, look at the Helsinki library.)
4. After-school activities and sports can help children as young as 7 escape cycles of marginalization. For kids from under-resourced areas or immigrant backgrounds, these programmes should offer language learning, life skills and awareness of the harsh realities behind gang and extremist propaganda.
5. Economic and psychological support to children and families is critical to combat child poverty, including in rich countries, and should be a top priority in the prevention of manipulation by radical ideologies. Providing mental health services is critical to address trauma, loneliness and anger before they escalate.
6. Countering online exposure to radical ideologies is crucial. The tech industry has a critical role to play in blocking radicalized content from social media platforms and preventing extremists from reaching young audiences. The industry can also promote positive digital campaigns, creating opportunities for counternarratives (e.g., ex-extremist testimonials) and examples of positive masculinity.

Despite our best efforts, some children will still fall prey to gangs and extremists. When this happens, children must be approached with restorative justice in mind. This means working with them and with their families and communities on how they can be successfully reintegrated and addressing the issues that led them to join radical movements in the first place. 

Conclusion

Children lured in by extremism are punished multiple times – first by growing up in dysfunctional families or marginalized neighbourhoods and then by the justice system. Preventing such manipulation requires rebuilding trust, offering alternative narratives and addressing root causes. A mix of family support, education, economic opportunities and digital vigilance can help youth navigate transitions without turning to extremism.