Stopping teenagers and children from being radicalized and sliding into violent extremism may be as simple as encouraging them to play sports, researchers from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) have discovered.
In recent studies undertaken by the universities in the Southeast Punjab region of Pakistan, it was shown that sports build resilience against youth involvement in violent extremism, which is represented by acts of violence for the furtherance of an ideology, be it a religious, social or political cause. Violent extremist groups have also been found to target children who are isolated, promising them a better life and a sense of community….