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?