Fighting Terrorism One School at a Time

"The decision to act heroically is a choice that many of us will be called upon to make at some point in time."

-Dr. Philip Zimbardo

These are the first words you see when you go to the Heroic Imagination Program's website. This program, led by Dr. Philip Zimbardo (renowned psychologist), gives students the tools and the knowledge that will encourage them to act positively in high pressure parts of their lives. Through workshops Zimbardo and his team are able to reach middle to high school students.

This theory about heroism has to do with teaching. If young people are taught at an early age to be heros, they will probably emerge as one someday. Similarly, if people's "violent extremism" tendencies are fought at a young age, they will probably emerge as much more peaceful citizens. 

In order to promote heroism and demote this "violent extremism" with regards to terrorism, the National Security Council has teamed up with the Department of Education. The idea is this: federal officials have become well versed in finding terrorists who travel overseas for their "training" or conduct hefty money transactions, but the terrorists who are working within the borders of the US are not as easily detected. Therefore, it is up to the schools to find suspicious activity amongst their young students and stop it, just as they would stop gang-like tendencies and bullying. (To read more, click on the "violent extremism" link above.)

Think about this in terms of your school. You've had workshops on how to stop your classmates from bullying several times. Can you imagine having one about how to stop your classmates from engaging in terrorist-like activities?

Americans: The Next Enemy Combatants?

"Enemy combatant" is a term we've always heard being used to describe members of Al Qaeda and other non-American terrorists, but with the National Defense Authorization Act, this label could apply to Americans.

This term was coined when the government was figuring out how to get around the Geneva Convention. It is defined by Dictionary.com in these words: "Any member of the armed forces of a state which which another state is at war; also any person in an armed conflict, including terrorism, who could be properly detained under the laws and customs of war."

I bolded "war" and "including terrorism" in order to emphasize the nod to the War on Terror. The "enemy combatants" who were captured during the War on Terror are currently at Guantanamo Bay, a place where torture is abundant and press scarce. These terrorists aren't American. The majority of them are Middle Eastern, because the Middle East is essentially where America is fighting the War on Terror.

This brings me to a scary thought about the NDAA: Americans who are suspected of any kind of terrorism can be sent to Guantanamo Bay, and once they are sent there, who knows what will happen to them? The realization of what the NDAA meant for our country struck a chord in me. I have heard of cases where people are suspected of terrorism solely based upon their Middle Eastern-sounding name. Could this happen to people in my family? I have relatives in the US named Muhammad and Omer. They have lived here the majority of their lives. They are Americans. Could they be jailed at a moment's notice? I've lived here for 15 out of my 17 years of life. Could I be put through a military trial based on suspicion?