The Role of Education System in Counteracting and Preventing Extremism among Teenagers and Youth

Journal of Environmental Treatment Techniques

2020, Volume 8, Issue 2, Pages: 735-738

J. Environ. Treat. Tech.

ISSN: 2309-1185

Journal web link: http://www.jett.dormaj.com

The Role of Education System in Counteracting

and Preventing Extremism among Teenagers and

Youth

Sergei S. Oganesyan*, Nikolay V. Rumyantsev, Salikh Kh. Shamsunov

Center of Studying of Problems of Management and the Organization Executions of Punishments in Criminally-Executive System, Federal Penal

Administration Service Research Institute, Moscow, Russian Federation

Received: 18/12/2019

Accepted: 10/04/2020

Published: 20/02/2020

Abstract

The authors believe that to prevent and control extremism and terrorism among modern teenagers and youth it is necessary to

purposefully and systemically form, first, their value world and legal consciousness; and second, to instill a scientific perception of the

world and mode of thinking in order to address social, worldview political, economic and other problems of the country and the world.

The current surge of extremism and terrorism in the teenage and youth milieu on religious, racial, ethnic and other grounds is connected,

on the one hand with a low level of legal consciousness and with legal nihilism. On the other hand, it is a consequence of the historical

processes of transition of the mass of the population from the religious perception of the world and life in it to a life according to the

norms and rules that are the fruit of their own intellectual activity. They are not “given” or “vouchsafed” from outside by some “Forces.”

That is why one of the main aims of education today is the study of the issues related to the value world of the modern man. The authors

argue that in the period of the change of the civilization mentalities of ethnic groups and peoples the role of education systems of states

in bringing up a personality with a high level of legal consciousness and law abidance increases immeasurably. The problem takes on

added relevance, especially for the education systems of the community of nations, against the background of the unstoppable integration

and migration processes characterizing the modern world.

Keywords: Civilizational mentality, Religious civilizations, Scientific world perception, Teenagers, Youth, Extremism, Terrorism

Introduction¹

In early 2020 the Federal Security Service (FSB) detained

All these extremely negative phenomena in Russia are

compounded by the drop of the birth rate.

Birth rate dropped by 5.2 percent between 2017 and 2018.

According to demographers, the country’s population declined

by 173,000 between January and September 2018. By way of

comparison, in 2017 the population dropped by 106.000 (4).

What are the sources of teenage and youth extremism and

terrorism? How does one account for the extremely low moral

level of teenagers and youth against the background of the

current demographic crisis? A host of reasons is named (4).

This article is devoted to the problem connected with the role

of the country’s education system in tackling the problems of

teenage and youth extremism and terrorism.

in Saratov two teenagers aged 14 and 15 who were planning a

hate murder of at least forty pupils at their school (1). Earlier

two teenagers in Kerch who were planning to blow up a school

were detained (2). Their classmates and the people who knew

them described them as quite “normal” guys. The same happens

to teenagers not only in Russia but also elsewhere in the modern

world. Data published by Russia’s Justice Ministry show that

the phenomenon is not accidental and follows a pattern.

According to the Justice Ministry, in Russia alone there are

more than 450 diverse groups of teenagers and young people

bent on extremism and terrorism who number close to 20,000

(

3).

Besides, there are in this country more than 30 religious

2 Problem Statement

organizations considered to be terrorist by court decision. Many

of their members are young people (4). One also has to bear in

mind the overall moral situation in the country which in recent

decades has seen a massive growth of drug addiction and child

prostitution. All this against the background of the

demographic crisis which the country is experiencing (4, 5).

The statistics cited by sociologists are catastrophic: nearly

Without dwelling on the existing views and positions, we

propose to set forth our position on the sources of modern

teenage extremism and terrorism before attempting to

determine the role and place of the country’s education system

in preventing teenage and youth extremism and terrorism.

Research Questions

To start with, let us state our position: the source of modern

0,000 new drug addicts. Teenagers account for 140,000 out of

the more than two million drug addicts in modern Russia. (6).

teenage and youth extremism and terrorism is that the present

generation of teenagers and youth, like two or three preceding

Corresponding author: Sergei S. Oganesyan, Doctor of Education,

Professor, Chief Researcher of the Center of Studying of Problems of

Management and the Organization Executions of Punishments in

Criminally-Executive System, Federal Penal Administration Service

Research Institute, Moscow, Russian Federation. E-mail:

ossduma@mail.ru.

Journal of Environmental Treatment Techniques

2020, Volume 8, Issue 2, Pages: 735-738

generations, have lived in a period of humankind’s transition

from epochs marked by predominance of the religious world

view and corresponding norms and rules of behavior to the

epoch of the scientific world perception mankind is destined to

arrive at for all the diversity of its ethnic groups and peoples,

with the excesses and extremes characteristic of transition

periods.

As the whole history of the development of the human race

convincingly shows, practically all the ethnic groups and

peoples (with rare exceptions) have passed and are passing

through three main stages of mental development. The first two

are religious – pagan and monotheistic. But the third stage

which humankind is inevitably entering today is the scientific

perception of the world and of themselves (their special mental

and biological nature and essence) and organization of all the

spheres of their life and activities in accordance with the

achievements of their reason.

This view is more than convincingly vindicated not only by

a comparative analysis of the Holy Legends of paganism and

the Holy Scriptures of monotheism (the Torah the New

Testament and the Koran) but also by the trends in the

development of humankind. It is no secret that at the stages of

paganism and monotheism ethnic groups and peoples organize

their life in strict accordance with the norms and rules of being

introduced from outside: in polytheism, those “bequeathed” by

the dead ancestors from the other world or vouchsafed (passed

on through the prophets) by the One God Who, according to the

Torah, the New Testament and the Koran, is the Creator of the

Universe and of man created in His “image and likeness.” And

the Creator “breathed into man’s nostrils the soul of man”

whereon “man became a living soul” (7). The above-mentioned

stages of the mental civilizational development of humankind

nonage is self-imposed if its cause lies not in lack of

understanding but in indecision and lack of courage to use one's

own mind without another's guidance. Dare to know! (Sapere

aude.) ‘Have the courage to use your own understanding,’ is

therefore the motto of the enlightenment” (12).

And finally, two centuries after the declarations of Rene

Descartes and Francois Voltaire an outstanding Russian, V.I.

Vernadsky, predicted the inevitable advent of the “noosphere,”

that is, an era of reason when human intellect (reason) would

become the most powerful instrument not only of cognizing but

also of transforming the world (13).

Casting a retrospective look at the past we see a clear

picture of the pagans bringing up their young proceeding not

from their own wishes and aspirations, but strictly following

the traditions and customs bequeathed to them by their “fathers

and grandfathers” who had become gods in the nether world

and were helping their ancestors in their earthly life. The

children of pagans knew exactly not only the norms and

behavior rules of their community (family, gens, tribe), but also

how to behave when encountering members of other families

and tribes and especially alien tribes. They knew who is “one

of them” and “a close one” and who should be seen as “an alien,

“an enemy and foe.” They were convinced that there was an

insuperable barrier between “one of them” and “the others.

“Their own” had to be supported everywhere and always

showing mercy and compassion for them (14). One should be

ruthless and merciless with regard to “aliens.” Because they had

alien gods who were the enemies of the pagan’s own gods all

aliens were considered to be enemies. Enemies had to be

destroyed everywhere and always unless peace had been

concluded with their tribe (14). Observance of the norms and

rules established in a family, gens or tribe was strictly

controlled by the elders of the family or gens. Offenders were

mercilessly punished, sometimes by death (14).

(ethnic groups and peoples) are dwelt on in detail by one of the

authors of this article (8).

One of the greatest and most brilliant representatives of the

pagan world, Marcus Tullius Cicero, reproached his kin who

had diverged from the behests of their forefathers, with the

words, “O tempora! O mores!” (“Oh what times, oh what

customs!”). He asserted that “The Roman state could have been

eternal if everyone had lived strictly according to the behests

and customs of the fathers” (15). Cicero did not introduce any

novelties to the norms and rules established by the ancestors.

The situation in terms of norms and rules of behavior and

the attitude toward the surrounding world, including toward

representatives of alien tribes, began to change in the era of

monotheism. The norms and rules of being came to be

associated not with the behests of the forefathers, but with the

prescriptions handed down by the One God to all the earth

people.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this article is to reveal the main motives and

causes of extremism and terrorism among modern teenagers

and youth and to formulate the tasks facing the modern

education system in Russia in terms of preventing and

counteracting extremism and terrorism.

Research Methods

The study uses traditional methods and devices of human

sciences: comparative analysis, deduction and generalization of

the results obtained. In particular, a comparative analysis is

made of the Torah, the New Testament and the Koran as well

as the holy legends of paganism.

As regards unconditional acceptance and strict adherence

to the fundamentally new norms and rules of behavior, it is

important that the One God was the sole Creator of mankind

pointing out that it was He who had formed the first man

(Adam) “of dust from the ground “in His own image and

likeness” and then his wife (Eve), was created out Adam’s rib

and then all the descendants of Adam and Eve were formed in

all the diversity of tribes inhabiting the Earth (7, 10, 16).

According to the Torah, the New Testament and the Koran,

it was not until some of the ethnic groups and peoples had

reached a certain level of mental development that the One God

vouchsafed them the knowledge of how to properly organize

their life in order to be righteous before the Almighty and not

to be punished by Him. This is the clear message of the Torah,

the New Testament and the Koran. The Koran furthermore

announced that the time of prophets was over and that it was

the One God’s last message to humankind (16).

Findings

Let us start the presentation of our position by quoting the

outstanding representatives of the Enlightenment era which in

our opinion marked the transition from the religious to the

scientific perception of the world. In particular, Rene Descartes

and Francois Voltaire. Rene Descartes wrote: “Doubt

everything” (9). This utterance is a direct challenge to the

religious world perception based on the mental formula: “as

you have believed, so let it be done for you.” This call of Jesus

Christ was addressed to the mentality of His contemporaries

(

10). “Everything is possible to the man who believes” (10).

Francois Voltaire maintained: “A new generation is rising that

hates fanaticism. The day will come when philosophers will

rule. The kingdom of reason is being prepared” (11).

A hundred years after Voltaire, another great humanist

philosopher, I. Kant (12), wrote: “Nonage is the inability to use

one's own understanding without another's guidance. This

Journal of Environmental Treatment Techniques

2020, Volume 8, Issue 2, Pages: 735-738

In monotheism, it was exceedingly important for the

establishment of the norms and rules of the behavior of people,

including the young generation, that the Holy Scriptures

hammered home the message that no one could anywhere or at

any time hide from the Creator’s retribution for violating the

bequeathed commandments, laws and prescriptions, For the

Almighty is omnipresent. He is impartial, eternal and immortal.

He knows about all the sins of all people and He has no

forgiveness for law breakers (7, 10, 16).

All people, wherever and under whatever conditions they

live, were to have “fear of God.” Fear of inevitable punishment

by God. People with the civilizational mentality of monotheism

had the fear of God and His inescapable retribution (7, 10, 16).

Over time, after millennia of maturing within paganism and

monotheism, beginning from the eras of Renaissance,

Enlightenment and Reformation, the mentally “grown up”

mankind began the transition to the scientific world perception.

It was at the transitional stage when the attitudes and values of

the monotheist era were becoming obsolete and the new ones

were still evolving that the violations of the established norms

and rules of behavior characteristic of the modern teenagers and

youth became widespread. It has to be noted that today the

whole world is in a state of transition, logical from the

perspective of the Holy Scripture, from monotheism to the

scientific perception of the world and life in it. Not only

teenagers and young people who have no clear value

orientation corresponding to the bidding of the “new times” but

the overwhelming majority of grown-ups in practically all

countries were left without clear benchmarks concerning “good

and evil, life and death.”

Moreover, by abandoning the world perception and the

norms and rules characteristic of monotheism, which lent

meaning to human life on earth by promising paradise in

heaven, many of our contemporaries found themselves in a

situation of “purposeless, meaningless, dead-end existence”

limited to “carnal passions, goals and concerns.”

Hence, in our opinion, the loss of so-called “spirituality”

and the emergence of moral “permissiveness.” This is logical.

If all human orientations are focused on earthly existence, then

gratification of one’s intentions and desires inevitably becomes

the purpose of man’s existence on earth.

Needless to say, there can be no return to the former

worldview, behaviors and values. As for example St.Paul’s

precept: “The husband is the head of the wife, just as Christ

is the head of the church people. The church is his body and he

saved it. Wives should obey their husbands ...” (10).

Such phenomena as extra-marital sex, homosexualism,

lesbianism and other “deadly sins” are today allowed under the

law in the shape of divorce and same-sex marriages in dozens

of countries. All this confronts us with the vital questions of

what norms and rules modern teenagers and youth should live

by. What should determine their values and accordingly, their

moral world? What should be the relationships between

children and parents, husband and wife, man and woman,

among peers and with elders, etc. The answers to these

questions are not as easy as they may appear to be.

teenagers and youth the need for unconditional and unstinting

compliance with national legislation.

Because teenagers and youth, owing to their physiological,

psychological and behavioral features, are more aware of the

need to shape personal and social qualities that correspond to

the fundamentally new stage in the development of humanity

marked by the scientific perception of the world and the

corresponding life activity.

Let us not forget that the main purpose of the Holy Legends

of paganism and the Holy Scriptures of monotheism was to

introduce the norms and rules of behavior into the life and daily

practices of people. These have successfully performed their

functions over millennia.

Conclusion

Thus it follows from the above that promoting legal

consciousness and law abidance is one of the most important

tasks facing the modern system of education in our country.

Especially against the background of legal nihilism existing in

our country. Hence for all the state and social institutions in our

country the paramount task is to explain the features of the

fundamentally new mental era which mankind has entered. To

explain that tolerance of diverse views, opinions and positions,

modes of thinking, way of life, tastes and preferences of other

people, ethnic groups and peoples is of paramount importance.

For the scientific world perception, unlike the religious world

perception with its dogmas, cannot exist without constant

discussions, arguments, “brain storming,” pluralism of

opinions and positions, and awareness that “the final truth”

does not exist and that the process of cognizing the world is

infinite, that the social life of modern people cannot exist

without the supremacy of the law, with constant renewal of

outdated legislative acts. One need hardly argue that practically

all the achievements of modern people in all the spheres of life

are the products above all of their intellectual activity beginning

from achievements in the field of medicine and technology and

ending with sports, the arts and culture.

That is why we are convinced that it is necessary to explain

to teenagers and young people that a transition of mankind from

the religious world perception and life according to the

Scriptures to a scientific perception of the world and

compliance with secular laws of their home country or the

country of residence is inevitable. In addition, one should work

tirelessly to shape law awareness and law abidance of children,

teenagers and young people stressing the study of the basics of

the laws of their country and international law. To this end, we

believe that the curricula of all the countries in the world should

include as a separate discipline, the history of law, which,

adapted to the age of children, teenagers and young people,

would reveal the logical nature of the transition of ethnic groups

and peoples from pagan mentality and law to canonical law and

from there to the modern secular legislation and human law

making.

It has to be stressed that the relentless integration and

migration processes unfolding in recent decades make the

problem particularly urgent for all countries. For it involves an

inevitable clash between representatives of different ethnic

groups and peoples which not only have their peculiarities but

find themselves at different civilizational stages.

As for concrete ways and methods and means by which our

education institutions can form legal consciousness and law

abidance among teenagers and youth in our country this, we are

convinced, merits a separate publication.

Some (above all the clergy) believe that the norms and rules

should be determined strictly in accordance with those set forth

in the Holy Scriptures. (17). Others, including the authors of

this study, suggest that it should be the norms enshrined in the

legal systems of modern states. These norms are the products

of intellectual activities of people who become mature enough,

as the Holy Scriptures predicted, to make their own laws (8).

That is why, in our opinion, the key task of state and private

education institutions in the country should be the shaping of

legal awareness and law abidance of all citizens, instilling in

Ethical issue

Authors are aware of, and comply with, best practice in

publication ethics specifically with regard to authorship

Journal of Environmental Treatment Techniques

2020, Volume 8, Issue 2, Pages: 735-738

(avoidance of guest authorship), dual submission, manipulation

of figures, competing interests and compliance with policies on

research ethics. Authors adhere to publication requirements

that submitted work is original and has not been published

elsewhere in any language.

Competing interests

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest that

would prejudice the impartiality of this scientific work.

Authors’ contribution

All authors of this study have a complete contribution for

data collection, data analyses and manuscript writing.

References

Planned

kill

people.

URL:

saratov.kp.ru›daily/27097.4/4169606/ (retrieved: 12.03.2020).

Two teenagers detained in Kerch. URL: www.1tv.ru. (retrieved:

2.03.2020).

Youth extremist movements in Russia. URL: colledg70.ru.

retrieved: 14.03.2020). 2020.

Official statistics. Official statistics of law enforcement in the

struggle agains. URL:

(

https://www.sovacenter.ru/racismxenophobia/news/counteracti

on/2018/.../d39283/ (retrieved: 12.03.2020)

Demography. Demography in Russia: Radical Measures or

major. EADaily. URL:https://eadaily.com › Russian version

Economics. (retrieved: 12.03.2020). 2020.

Osipova RG. Drug Addiction in the Youth Milieu: Causes of its

Spread and Possible Prevention Methods. Molody uchoniy.

011;7(2):53-59.

The Torah. Russian translation editor P. Gil; general editor G.

Branover. Moscow: Art-Business-Tsentr. 1993.

Oganesyan SS. The sphere of education as translator of

civilizational mentality. Otechstvennaya

i zarubwezhnaya

pedagogika. 2017;5(43):141–155.

Descartes. Philosophy. Quotes – Educational portal. URL:

worldofscience.ru (Retrieved: 2.07.2019).

0. The Bible. Books of the Holy Scripture of the Old and New

Testaments. Canonical Russian translations with parallel texts.

Published by the Missionary Society. Moscow: Izvestia

Publishing House. 1995.

1. Voltaire FM. Lib.Sale. URL: https://lib.sale/uchebnik-teoriya-

istoriya-gosudarstva/fransua-mari-volter 80000.html (retrieved:

2.03.2020).

2. Kant IQ. Aphorisms. URL: https://goo.gl/DjBPYz (retrieved:

2.03.2020). 2020.

3. Vernadsky VI. URL:

Teaching

Noosphere.

http://www.grandars.ru/shkola/geografiya/noosfera-

vernadskogo.html (retrieved: 23.03.2020).

4. De Coulanges ND. The ancient city: A study of the religion,

laws, and institutions of Greece and Rome. Courier Corporation;

012 Mar 14.

5. Cicero on degradation. Cicero on degradation of morals and the

need for moral. URL: https://cyberleninka.ru/.../tsitseron-o-

padenii-nravov-i-neobhodimosti-nravstvennoy-r.

.07.2019). 2020.

(retrieved:

6. The Koran. Translation of meanings and commentary. Moscow:

Ripol Classic. 2008.

7. Speech of Patriarch Kirill. Speech of Patriarch Kirill at the VIII.

019. URL: monasterium.ru (retrieved: 12.03.2020)