Using children as soldiers is considered a war crime as “human rights laws declare 18 as the minimum legal age for recruitment." According to the UN, “a child associated with an armed force or armed group refers to any person below 18 years of age who is, or who has been, recruited or used by an armed force or armed group in any capacity, including but not limited to children, boys and girls, used as fighters, cooks, porters, spies or for sexual purposes.” Children are usually kidnapped by armed groups or given away by their desperate parents in the hope of having them fed and sheltered. At other times, children themselves are motivated to join an armed group by the false sense of security the group provides them by acting as a surrogate family when they are left orphaned, alone and terrified in a chaotic and violent world. The armed group can also give them a sense of purpose by exploiting their extreme poverty, their need to avenge their families, or even by the promise of "martyrdom" as is the case with most extremist religious terrorist groups. An important point to be recognized and which the UN Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflicts stresses is that there is no such thing as the voluntary recruitment of children because they lack the mental capacity to make such decisions and should always be recognized as victims who are either brainwashed or coerced into committing such actions. Thankfully, in Saudi Arabia, our children live in a relatively safe, prosperous environment where extreme violence does not exist in their daily lives, which makes it even more surprising to find that not only are some of our youth joining Daesh (the self-proclaimed IS), but so are some of our children. After the recent bombing in Al-Qudaih, it was discovered that three out of the 21 captured were 15- and 16-year-old children who had joined Daesh. Many factors need to be considered in order to protect our youth and children from joining such radical groups. However, education is our best weapon against terrorism because even if the background of children is not a tolerant one, education can alter their convictions so that we can raise a generation which is immune to such radical ideas and groups. Even Daesh realizes how significant education is because one of the first things they do to their "cubs", as they call them, is to start their indoctrination in schools as early as possible in order to create loyal and adherent subjects to serve their cause. Saudi Arabia realized the significance of education after 9/11 and has taken practical measures to eradicate terrorism from Saudi society. This has included reforming Saudi religious education in order to increase tolerance toward the "other". However, many religious education teachers do not accept or appreciate diversity as they should and are convinced of one "true" path. Education scholars now argue that textbooks are not as important as they used to be, as discussions about conflicting interpretations of different concepts, as well as moral and ethical issues, arise in class which requires teachers who are able to deal with them. Accordingly, Islamic studies teachers should be prepared for such situations with proper training and education. Moreover, schools should have a clear tolerance policy which is communicated to teachers and students. Further improvement can be done to promote tolerance among Islamic studies teachers, such as providing optional workshops about teaching pedagogies, debate and dialogue in class and incorporating tolerance in order to provide practical methods for treating those who are different. The annual report of the UN Secretary-General on children and armed conflict presents information about grave violations committed against children in 23 countries with an estimated 300,000 child soldiers around the world. Let's hope that Saudi children do not contribute to increasing this horrific number. We can protect our children even when their parents are not good examples through education by raising an enlightened and strong generation who will protect their fellow citizens instead of blowing them up.
