Zawaya

Protecting the youth through the promotion of values within the family

By: Abdelaziz Karraky

The internet offers the possibility of freely browsing an endless virtual world, and facilitates communication between people more than ever before, thus turning the world into a small borderless village. However, it is also a dangerous tool misused by many to commit fraud and obtain funds illegally, sexually exploit women and children, or spread rumors to damage the reputation of certain individuals or countries, among other harmful uses.

One of the abusive ways of using the internet is attracting and recruiting young people to serve terrorism. This is a real dilemma, because that seeks to convert people into killing machines devoid of principles, and that can hit anywhere and anytime. For instance, the Moroccan police have recently dismantled a terrorist cell that is active online. Therefore, governments and families ought, today more than ever, to help reduce the risk of terrorism.

This may seem difficult at the beginning, because while governments have the needed means to adopt strategic choices to reduce the recruitment of young people, how can families bear this burden when some of them don’t even have the minimum requirements for a decent life?

Terrorism was initially a simple idea produced by a human mind. In his book “Democracy in America”, French thinker Alexis de Tocqueville says that it is easier for the world to accept a simple lie than a complex truth. Therefore, fighting terrorism starts with a counter-thought based mainly on a value system that glorifies the human being, and restores the meaning of life. Families should emerge as the best mechanism for social upbringing that makes individuals absorb society’s values and culture. However, this role remains limited, as schools should also be involved by strengthening the values taught to children by their families on the one hand, and by acting as a medium to enable them to normally integrate society on the other hand. Raising children on accepting others as they are, without seeking to change them to be like oneself, may rule out the idea of a society where people are all similar in everything; such a society would be devoted to the tyranny of the group, which is much worse than the tyranny of the individual.

Governments will evidently still have to provide individuals with better social and economic conditions, improve education, and ensure the quality of training. People in general may cope with poverty as long as they hope to get rid of it, but as soon as this hope is lost, life loses its meaning, and envy and hatred towards society invade their hearts, thus making them an easy prey for terrorist recruiters…