We Must Protect Our Youth from Being Lured By ISIS

Being a Muslim author and educator, I have been. Frequently, asked by some of my students about ISIS and why it is becoming a fixture in the media. I attempted to explain to them that ISIS has nothing to do with Islam or its principles in vain.

I realized that due to the extensive coverage of the movement, most youth worldwide had acquired a profound curiosity regarding its authenticity and its impact upon the world in which we exist.

It is a common knowledge that it had attracted a great number of confused youth worldwide. One may wonder about the reasons that joining a terrorist organization became so appealing to those young people that they were willing to abandon their families and their environment to travel thousands of miles to become one of its followers.

Despite its horrific acts of massacring unaccountable of innocent people and attempts by several nations to annihilate or abolishing it, ISIS is still powerful enough to cause havoc worldwide.

Examining the state of our universe, it is clear that many young people are facing tremendous challenges including making a living, facing bleak futures, the spread of diseases, drugs and crimes along with the turmoil of wars in every continent.

They are desperately seeking a glimpse of hope to hang on to avoid falling victims to despondency and desperation.
ISIS, with its false interpretation of Islam and its principles, seized the opportunity to reach out for those who are confused enough to be brainwashed into believing that killing innocent people would bring them close to Allah/God and consequently having the privilege of spending ete
ity in heaven.

With the spread of the internet and the accessibility of all venues of the media to young people, it would be easy for ISIS and its distorted logic to crawl into few of the minds of the struggling youth who are desperate to find a way to survive in today’s complex world.

All governments are facing two difficult options.
The first option would be focusing on dealing with the fact that ISIS may be able to reach some of the confused youth and lure them into joining that evil organization.

The second choice would be to ignore it and hope that our youngsters are rational enough to resist its appealing false hopes to stay away from becoming one of its members.

It is obvious that facing the challenge of educating our youth about ISIS and its horrendous acts of terrorism would protect them from its evils. Nevertheless, one may ask about the means by which we can accomplish that tedious task without venturing into the religious aspects of the issue.
Universities, colleges and middle and high schools could allocate few classes or hold meetings to discuss the movement and its horrible acts of violence. Teachers need to emphasize that joining a terrorist organization by no means is the answer to the problems faced by young individuals.

The media should avoid sensationalizing its acts of violence. I am aware of the fact that they have the responsibility of informing the public about current affairs. However, they could minimize its impact by sticking to the authentic facts regarding the movements.