Page 36 - Šolsko polje, XXIX, 2018, no. 5-6: Radicalization, Violent Extremism and Conflicting Diversity, eds. Mitja Sardoč and Tomaž Deželan
P. 36
šolsko polje, letnik xxviii, številka 5–6
commonly are perplexing to individuals. There is no single terrorist pro-
file and looking at age, gender or socio-economic backgrounds will not
detect the next terrorist. The stereotypes of immigrants or refugees who
move to a new country in order to carry out terrorist activities is actual-
ly few and far between. For instance, in many cases the public finds out
with the aftermath of a terrorist attack that the individual was not an im-
migrant or refugee, but rather a person born in the country in which the
attack occurred. For example, the attack by Alexandre Bissonette relat-
ed to the slayings that occurred in a Quebec City mosque in 2016 noted
that the student was a French Canadian citizen (Perreaux and Andrew-
Gee, 2017). Aaron Driver, an Ontario student in Canada, was killed by
the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) during an altercation prior
to an imminent terrorist attack in Toronto. Damian Clairmont, who con-
verted to Islam shortly before he travelled to Syria to join a terrorist group
in 2012, was born in Nova Scotia into an Acadian family. He was killed
in 2014 during fighting between the Jabhat al-Nusra and the Free Syrian
Army (FSA) militias. André Poulin, from Timmins, Ontario, loved hock-
ey and was by all accounts an average Canadian until his conversion to
Islam and subsequent departure to Syria. In all of these instances, the par-
ents were utterly shocked and traumatized that their children were ter-
rorists, coming from long-standing Canadian families. They did not fit
the profile of having recently moved or been indoctrinated by fundamen-
talist parents. While we are clear that the prototypes of terrorists are as
vast and unique as the nature and context of each of the attacks, what we
wish to highlight in the previous cases is that they did not fit the common
stereotype that is perceived by the general public, these boys were: white
Caucasian; raised by Canadian parents1, and; were not raised by funda-
mentalist parents. The perplexing question that arises is how did these
boys become radicalized in the first place that leads to terrorist actions?
We do not suggest that schools must take the full burden of ad-
dressing this broader complex issue about youth radicalization. This said,
Trees Pels and Doret de Ruyter (2012) suggest that education has largely
been conspicuously absent from the discussions on youth radicalization
where schools might offer some attempts to be better responsive and at-
tentive to youth radicalization. While we do not offer the solution, this
article wishes to create an educative space to consider what role schools,
and specifically teachers, might be able to do to mitigate the rise of youth
1 Given that Canada is an immigrant population other than the Indigenous peoples, every-
one is arguably an immigrant. For the purposes of making a distinction, however, I wish
to suggest that in these cases the parents were not first or second generation immigrant
parents.
34
commonly are perplexing to individuals. There is no single terrorist pro-
file and looking at age, gender or socio-economic backgrounds will not
detect the next terrorist. The stereotypes of immigrants or refugees who
move to a new country in order to carry out terrorist activities is actual-
ly few and far between. For instance, in many cases the public finds out
with the aftermath of a terrorist attack that the individual was not an im-
migrant or refugee, but rather a person born in the country in which the
attack occurred. For example, the attack by Alexandre Bissonette relat-
ed to the slayings that occurred in a Quebec City mosque in 2016 noted
that the student was a French Canadian citizen (Perreaux and Andrew-
Gee, 2017). Aaron Driver, an Ontario student in Canada, was killed by
the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) during an altercation prior
to an imminent terrorist attack in Toronto. Damian Clairmont, who con-
verted to Islam shortly before he travelled to Syria to join a terrorist group
in 2012, was born in Nova Scotia into an Acadian family. He was killed
in 2014 during fighting between the Jabhat al-Nusra and the Free Syrian
Army (FSA) militias. André Poulin, from Timmins, Ontario, loved hock-
ey and was by all accounts an average Canadian until his conversion to
Islam and subsequent departure to Syria. In all of these instances, the par-
ents were utterly shocked and traumatized that their children were ter-
rorists, coming from long-standing Canadian families. They did not fit
the profile of having recently moved or been indoctrinated by fundamen-
talist parents. While we are clear that the prototypes of terrorists are as
vast and unique as the nature and context of each of the attacks, what we
wish to highlight in the previous cases is that they did not fit the common
stereotype that is perceived by the general public, these boys were: white
Caucasian; raised by Canadian parents1, and; were not raised by funda-
mentalist parents. The perplexing question that arises is how did these
boys become radicalized in the first place that leads to terrorist actions?
We do not suggest that schools must take the full burden of ad-
dressing this broader complex issue about youth radicalization. This said,
Trees Pels and Doret de Ruyter (2012) suggest that education has largely
been conspicuously absent from the discussions on youth radicalization
where schools might offer some attempts to be better responsive and at-
tentive to youth radicalization. While we do not offer the solution, this
article wishes to create an educative space to consider what role schools,
and specifically teachers, might be able to do to mitigate the rise of youth
1 Given that Canada is an immigrant population other than the Indigenous peoples, every-
one is arguably an immigrant. For the purposes of making a distinction, however, I wish
to suggest that in these cases the parents were not first or second generation immigrant
parents.
34
