As the world faces new challenges with the growing threat of violent extremism, schools and
educators are confronted with expressions and sentiments on a scale they never anticipated, ranging
from personal identity conflicts to complex societal issues. The Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris, the
two attacks in Denmark and the recent departure of several well-educated young Western girls to
join the so called ‘Islamic State’ are only a few examples of developments our young people but also
our educators are exposed to. These incidents scare, frustrate or anger people causing provocations,
ridicule, tensions and protest in the classrooms. Schools and educators are on the front-line to help
identify and safeguard youngsters at risk of radicalisation, and to partner in preventive efforts by
investing at an early stage in teaching democracy, citizenship skills, and helping to develop critical
thinking skills.

This manifesto is a call to action to help empower the very group of people who have the potential
to be some of the most influential in the lives of our young people and to help them truly prevent
violent extremism. As it is impossible for schools to solve the problem alone and immediately, on
different levels (the educator, the school, the partners and the government) suggestions are made to
inspire interventions that could start tomorrow (short term) and help establish a sustainable
approach for the future (long term). These insights are mostly based on experiences in secondary
education but can easily be translated to primary, vocational and higher education.