More young people are being drawn towards extremism and terrorism. In lockdown there was more time at home, online, out of education, which has increased the risk. Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP) want young people to know the signs and what to do if they’re concerned about someone and are taking a new approach to this producing lived experience videos and real-life stories.
More children and young people than ever before are being drawn towards extremism, and sometimes even terrorism. This comes after the ‘perfect storm’ of the last year, in which children and young people have spent more time at home, online and out of education – putting them at risk of radicalisation and conspiracy theories.
That’s why CT Policing and its partners are stepping up their ACT Early campaign, to help prevent young people going down this dangerous path. Following a successful partnership with the Netmums parenting site in the summer, CT Policing are now appealing directly to young people themselves to be aware of the signs to spot and what to do if they are concerned about someone they know.

The videos and stories are from people who have been through prevent or experienced first-hand someone they love being radicalised. There are two videos, one is Michael who is reading his letter to his brother who was radicalised and killed overseas. The other video is Mustafa and is done through dance and poetry. Mustafa was a follower of multiple radical clerics and he expressed and promoted extreme views.

The videos and stories are available at https://actearly.uk/real-stories/

Contact: Catriona Shaw, [email protected]