Al-Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Originally Posted in Arabic on October 1
Schools play an important role in developing students’ personality and character, and teaching them how to deal with their friends, their families, and their communities. I am saying this because we have all heard of the teenagers who chose to leave home and join the Islamic State.
These are teenagers who have been educated in our very own schools and were lured – through social networks – to join a radical organization. Therefore, it is not enough to simply teach students a regular academic curriculum.
We must educate our youth how to separate right from wrong. We must turn our schools into incubators of knowledge – ones that evoke creative thinking processes and teach our children important life lessons. Our curriculums should focus on deepening students’ sense of citizenship and obligation to protect their country from any harm. Students must be aware of the threats posed to their home by outside forces; radical groups who seek to destroy their countries.
In addition, our education systems must offer summer programs – from the arts, through sports, to learning – which will give teenagers’ life’s meaning. This will minimize the risk of bored individuals leaving their homes and their countries and joining radical groups.
Our fight against the Islamic State is expected to be difficult and long. Yet we must remember that it cannot all be achieved through military means. Educating our children to be thoughtful, responsible, and proud citizens of their country is no less important. – Ayman al-Hammad