Prevent and Radicalisation
Prevent & Radicalisation
Same grooming machine. Different product.
KS3 · The Safeguard Hub · Press F11 for full screen, scroll for next slide
Myth or fact?
Radicalisation only affects one community. People choose extremism because they're evil. Telling an adult gets your mate arrested.
All three: myths. Let's see why.
You already know this pattern
Attention. Belonging. Isolation. Escalation.
That's grooming, from your earlier lessons. Radicalisation is the same machine selling a different product: a story about who to blame and a group where you finally matter.
Who gets targeted?
Not a type of person. A person with a gap: lonely, angry, grieving, bored, wanting to matter.
Which is everyone, sometimes. That's why "it couldn't be me or my mates" is the most dangerous sentence in this subject.
Push and pull
Push: isolation, grievance, identity crisis, trouble at home.
Pull: belonging, purpose, status, adventure, a villain to blame, and the flattery of "seeing the truth".
The algorithm is not your friend
Feeds learned that anger holds attention. One curious click trains it to serve something stronger. Then stronger again.
Nobody plans the journey. The feed walks you down it, one recommendation at a time.
Why it starts with memes
Jokes lower your guard. Each one walks the line one edgy step forward.
Then come the private channels, where the serious material lives and people compete to be the most extreme.
Signs in a mate
Jokes hardening into real contempt for a group. Language that sounds downloaded, not thought. Old friends dropped for an online crowd. Secrecy, anger when questioned, obsession with violence.
One sign alone? Maybe nothing. Several, or a sharp change? Act.
What is Channel?
Voluntary. Supportive. Mentoring, and help with what's actually going on underneath.
Not handcuffs, not a record, not a punishment. Most people referred get help with something else entirely, because something else was the real story.
The biggest myth
"Telling an adult gets your mate arrested." False.
Telling early is reaching your friend while reaching them is still easy. Staying loyal and silent is how they get further away.
Where to get help
Any trusted adult in school. Childline 0800 1111.
ACT Early: actearly.uk, 0800 011 3764, specialist advice for worried friends and family. 999 if someone is in danger or planning harm.
Exit ticket
Write down one sign you would now notice, and one adult you would tell.
That pair of answers is the whole lesson.
Aligned with Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026, Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026 and College of Policing Authorised Professional Practice. This resource is for education and prevention. It is not legal advice. In an emergency always call 999.