Dear John,

Are you concerned about the hate and extremist propaganda that young people are seeing online and the risk that they could be recruited?  

ADL’s Education team has created the Extreme Measures toolkit of resources to help you, your school, and community learn more about it and how you can help the young people in your life.  

Sadly, tweens and teens are a key target of white supremacist extremist outreach. Adolescents are particularly susceptible to propaganda and often witness publicized extremist activities like Charlottesville and the January 6 attack on the Capitol as they happen in real time — and then on a continuous media loop.  

Using gaming, social media, streaming and other platforms, extremists use humor, memes, sarcasm, “edgy” imagery, jokes and live chats to lure young people to their point of view, spreading hate and misinformation. This is what recruitment looks like.  

The Extreme Measures toolkit includes suggested strategies for talking with young people and warning signs for youth who may be most at risk as well as for those who may have been radicalized already. If you are concerned about how young people are being recruited in these efforts, download the Extreme Measures toolkit for background information, terminology, examples, approaches, responses and strategies.  

You play a key role for young people—whether they are your students, your own children, or other youth in your lives.  Help them resist the temptation to get involved with hateful groups and ideologies and instead show them how they can contribute to a safer and more equitable school and community. 

If you have any questions, please reach out to us at [email protected].

Sincerely,

The ADL Education Team