Christian Post reported Saturday that parents have told head teachers of two London secondary schools that their children have been radicalized and could flee the country to join the Islamic State (IS) during Easter holidays. The two head teachers told the Chief Crown prosecutor for Northwest England, Nazir Afzal about their concerns. "The head teachers said they are in between a rock and a hard place," Afzal was quoted as adding. "No parent wants to criminalize their child. Their perception of the parents' lack of confidence also impacted on them, thinking policing and criminalizing is not the approach they want to take — and what else is available to them." The reason why Easter holidays could be a time for the children to make such a move, Afzal explained, "When the children don't have to be somewhere at 9 a.m. and don't have to be there till 3.30 p.m. there are more opportunities. That's why Easter came up. After the half-term [it is] the next window of opportunity." Afzal believes that recent departures to Syria show that "many more children" are at risk of what he terms "jihadimania" than was previously thought. The Guardian reported. Hundreds of British teenagers in his opinion are in danger of being radicalised by Islamic State (IS) because they see the terrorists as "pop idols". The Guardian Reported. "The boys want to be like them and the girls want to be with them," Afzal said. "That's what they used to say about the Beatles and more recently One Direction and Justin Bieber. The propaganda the terrorists put out is akin to marketing, and too many of our teenagers are falling for the image. "Where heads have clear evidence that young people may travel to Syria or are involved in extremist activities, they can and must alert parents and the appropriate authorities," Russell Hobby, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, was quoted as saying. Around 600 young British Muslims are thought to have left the country to join IS fighters in Syria.
