Monday, July 25, 2022



Children could be radicalised over summer break, London police warn parents

The Metropolitan police force has taken the unprecedented step of writing to parents of school-age children, urging them to look out for signs of radicalisation because it fears the six-week summer holiday could lead to a rise in extremism.

Det Supt Jane Corrigan, of the Met’s counter-terrorism command and lead officer in the anti-terrorist Prevent programme, sent a letter to primary and secondary schools in London – the first time such a step has been taken – to distribute to parents last week. In it she expresses concern that children would be spending more time online during the summer holidays, and that this would create the risk they could come into contact with those attempting to radicalise young people.

She advised parents to use the ACT Early website to identify signs of radicalisation, such as becoming obsessive or expressing extreme views, and to contact Prevent for support.

The government’s independent reviewer of terrorism legislation welcomed the development, saying the police had concluded that tackling the radicalisation of youngsters required society’s efforts as a whole.

Jonathan Hall QC said: “What’s so striking is that counter-terrorism usually operates behind the scenes – they have a minimal public presence – and that’s why this letter seems really important. They’re coming out and saying: ‘We can’t do it on our own’.”

Prevent is intended to divert people away from extremist ideologies. Corrigan manages London’s vulnerability support hub, which works with psychiatrists, psychologists and nursing staff. “Our job is really about making sure that we catch people and support them before it’s too late,” she said. “The purpose of my letter was to make sure that we appeal to parents, because they are usually the ones that will identify that deterioration, that vulnerability.”

Corrigan said about 30% of Prevent referrals came from schools, so the letter was important to ensure children did not slip through the net when not being seen by teachers.

She said that police often did not need to intervene because families were already receiving support from children’s mental health services, education support workers or social services. “If you think they’re vulnerable to being radicalised and need support, then call the advice line and we will ensure they get the support they need,” she added. “That’s our job, and sometimes that means difficult conversations with statutory partners.”

Corrigan said that the nature of terrorism threats had evolved from groups with clear ideological motives to individuals often described as “lone actors” with “mixed, unstable or unclear ideologies”, which accounted for more than half of the referrals to Prevent across the country.

“We’ve also seen that those ideologies are diversifying, and they’re becoming less fixed,” Corrigan said. “Subjects are often picking and choosing extremist contents from a range of sources. So people are kind of flip-flopping between ideologies and beliefs, and in most but not all cases, they’re inspired to conduct low sophistication attacks.”

Vulnerable and marginalised people were often targeted by extremists, Corrigan added, noting that an Islamic State promotional video included a sign language interpreter. “The reason they’ve got somebody signing is because they’re trying to reach the deaf community. Who is thinking about approaching the deaf community in terms of them being radicalised? It’s not something that automatically springs to mind.”

London continued to see more referrals for Islamist threats than extreme rightwing ones, a situation “at odds with the rest of the country”, she said.

In May, a leaked version of a report by William Shawcross, Prevent’s independent reviewer, said that the programme was “carrying the weight for mental health services” because of the lack of resources, and that people had been referred simply to access other types of support.

The issue of youngsters being drawn into extremism has posed an increasing challenge for police and the intelligence agencies with a recent speech by Hall warning that teenagers suspected of sharing and promoting terrorist material online should be spared prosecution if they were just “keyboard warriors”.

Data shows that of the 20 under-18s arrested in 2021, only five were charged and one convicted, suggesting that the police were aware of the difference in threat between youngsters posturing online and a genuine terrorist

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Zuckerberg-backed Summit Learning platform suggests schools 'listen' to parents' 'online conversations'

Summit Learning, a digital learning platform funded by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, recommended that schools monitor some parents' online activity, such as their critical comments and Facebook groups that are public.

Summit recommended that schools should "Listen to online conversations" from parents and provided instructions on how to do so. Fox News Digital uncovered Summit Learning's recommendations in the internal portal that is not available to the public but to educators who use the platform.

The digital platform is used by hundreds of schools around the U.S. and was developed, in part, by Facebook engineers who continued to work with the platform until Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan's organization entered into the partnership in 2017.

Schools attempting to implement Summit have met pushback from parents concerned about students' data security, among other aspects of the program. For example, after Cheshire Public Schools in Connecticut entered into Summit in 2017, parents' "opposition" caused the program to be terminated, according to Summit. The Cheshire superintendent acknowledged that the platform would have access to students' names, emails and analytics on their performance.

Furthermore, research from The National Education Policy Center, which is housed at the University of Colorado Boulder School of Education, alleged that Summit's contracts with schools "presents a potentially significant risk to student privacy and opens the door to the exploitation of those data by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and possibly by unknown third parties—for purposes that have nothing to do with improving the quality of those students’ educations."

Summit Learning disputed the researchers' allegations, calling them "incorrect."

"Protecting student privacy is a top priority and something we take very seriously," Fox News Digital was told. Summit's privacy policy states that they "don’t sell or use personal information to make money" and that they "don’t use student personal information for anything other than educational purposes."

"In certain cases, we may use de-identified information, (i.e. information that cannot be used to identify or contact an individual) to improve your experience on the Learning Services," the policy added.

Using Cheshire as an example, Summit provided instructions to schools for an "aggressive communications strategy" to prevent a repeat of parents' successfully uprising against the platform.

"Online discussion group: Parents may create groups on Facebook or other online platforms to discuss Summit Learning… [these groups] have… been used to build a campaign against Summit Learning," it said. On this point, Summit suggested schools watch for "groups with critical names."

"You can stay up to date by establishing Google alerts that an email notification when keywords (such as ‘Summit Learning’ + your school name) appear on a website. Regular monitoring of your school’s social media accounts for comments and questions about Summit Learning is also critical," it said.

Summit suggested that schools should also "watch for" social media posts from reporters requesting interviews with parents about Summit Learning.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Summit Learning said, "The document you shared encourages School Leaders to pay attention to questions from their community so they can provide factual information and have open conversations about their vision for education."

To ward off anticipated resistance from parents, Summit suggested that schools should "cultivate" parents who can be "allies" a "year before controversy starts." For example, schools can encourage parents to speak up at school board meetings to balance out negative statements and write letters to the editor following negative coverage in local media.

"If you have already identified supportive parents… Explore whether they are willing to share their experiences with other parents through a letter, newsletter, or school board meeting."

"The claim that the program encourages educators to 'spy' is untrue," Summit explained to Fox News Digital. "Connecting with parents on public social media outlets, paying attention to the local news, and having conversations with families are positive ways educators can understand, address and support the needs of their community."

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Some University of Michigan medical students walk out of pro-life speaker's keynote address at White Coat Ceremony

Dozens of incoming University of Michigan Medical School students walked out of a pro-life keynote speaker’s address, after a previous petition to get the speaker removed failed.

Shortly after Dr. Kristin Collier, a pro-life assistant professor of medicine at UMMS, took to the stage Sunday to address the new students at their White Coat Ceremony, several dozen people got up from their seats and headed for the auditorium doors, video of the ceremony showed.

Collier’s speech was not expected to focus on abortion, but some students petitioned the school weeks prior to remove her as the keynote speaker over her support for the unborn.

"I want to acknowledge the deep wounds our community has suffered over the past several weeks," Collier started her speech, which could have been a veiled reference to the controversy surrounding the protest or the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade.

"We have a great deal of work to do for healing to occur," she continued, the National Review reported. "And I hope that for today, for this time, we can focus on what matters most: coming together to support our newly accepted students and their families with the goal of welcoming them into one of the greatest vocations that exist on this earth."

The protesting group included students, donning their medical white coats, and some parents. The school said 168 new medical students attended the initiation ceremony and took the White Coat Pledge and the Hippocratic Oath.

The petition to remove Collier, who is also the director of the UMMS Program on Health Spirituality & Religion, was ultimately denied by the school’s dean, Dr. Marschall Runge.

In his decision, he expressed the "critical importance of diversity of personal thought and ideas, which is foundational to academic freedom and excellence," according to the report.

The students, in the actions they displayed Sunday, expressed their disapproval of his decision.

According to the report, Dr. Collier made no mention of abortion, Roe v. Wade, or any political topic during her keynote speech. She simply encouraged students and parents and offered them advice on what to expect as they begin their careers in the healthcare field.

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My other blogs: Main ones below

http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)

http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)

http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)

http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)

http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)

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