By Thorbjørn Jagland, Sayeeda Warsi and Francesco Ragazzi

Europe’s young people are growing up at a time when the Continent is facing a host of divisive issues: terrorism, austerity, refugees, war in Ukraine, instability in Turkey and Brexit in Britain.

As they develop their cultural and political views, they need all the responsible guidance they can be given. The internet can do a great deal to broaden young minds, but much of it — especially social media — is awash with angry polemic and opinion parading as facts.

Young men and women increasingly need forums in which prejudices can be challenged, misinformation can be corrected and tolerance can be celebrated.

Schools, therefore, have a major role to play. And yet, when the Council of Europe — Europe’s human rights watchdog — convened teachers from a selection of European countries, it was clear that today’s most topical issues have become taboo in classrooms across the Continent.

In some cases, governments explicitly ban certain subjects in an attempt to appeal to the majority. Russia, for example, has prohibited teaching children about LGBTI relationships.

Another problem is the perception, in some societies, that talk of private life is unwelcome in public places. French teachers, for instance, point to confused interpretations of laïcité, a bedrock principle of French society that restricts religious expression in the public sphere.

Suspicion in our schools will not make us safer.

Following last November’s terrorist attacks in Paris, one young girl asked if the perpetrators were “bad Muslims.” She was immediately shushed by an anxious peer who feared that the mere mention of Islam would bring punishment on the entire group.

Most worrying of all is the growing expectation of teachers to identify individuals at risk of radicalization, encouraging pupils to withhold potentially controversial views. This is particularly evident in Western Europe, where many states have been shocked by the surge in so-called “home grown terror.”

A growing number of governments — in Austria, Spain, Switzerland, France and Denmark for example — have asked schools to take a more active role in preventing future attacks. The U.K. has taken the extra step of establishing a legal obligation on staff to report any pupils whose behavior rings alarm bells. At times of heightened insecurity, all members of a society should be vigilant, and it is right to look for new ways to protect citizens. But such policies, however well-intentioned, can be counter-productive.

Suspicion in our schools will not make us safer. Extreme points of view and conspiracy theories will only be driven further underground, where they will remain insulated from open challenge and reasoned debate.

Furthermore, too many teachers say they feel obliged to act like police on the lookout for “the next jihadi.” A Belgian teacher recently recalled, with dismay, how a colleague boasted she “had one” in her classroom, wielding a text she had confiscated from this student’s desk. The book was about women’s rights in Islam. The girl was suspended without explanation.

Closing down conversations closes minds, and this does not bode well for Europe’s future. Can we really expect young people to defend the freedoms on which stable democracies depend if many of them grow-up feeling muzzled themselves?

The questions they are grappling with can be daunting. Some are struggling to make sense of their mixed heritage. With nationalism and xenophobia both on the rise, what does it mean to be a second-generation Moroccan born in the Netherlands? How should a young Jewish citizen navigate Europe’s resurgent anti-Semitism?

Others have ethical questions. Students in Belgium and Germany and elsewhere have asked why their countries commemorate victims of attacks in Brussels and Paris, but not in Ankara or elsewhere in the Middle East. Still others are tapping into a broad societal mood. Researchers report a sharp spike in anti-Arab sentiment among teenagers in Croatia since the the European migrant crisis began.

We must be active and confident in teaching Europe’s young people how to live as democratic citizens in diverse societies.

The Council of Europe will join forces with teachers, academics and the U.K.’s Baroness Warsi Foundation to empower professionals to conduct difficult discussions effectively, openly and respectfully. We urgently need to boost freedom of expression in Europe’s schools.

We must be active and confident in teaching Europe’s young people how to live as democratic citizens in diverse societies. Despite worrying trends, there are schools which are getting this right. And, while national contexts vary, there are principles and techniques that can be applied across borders.

In the coming months we will ensure that the best experiences and practices are shared across member countries, as part of the Council of Europe’s wider drive to improve the quality of Europe’s democratic education. Political backing will be crucial. The teachers we heard from are willing to tackle sensitive issues — but not if they are unduly censored or asked to behave like spies.

As Europe continues to confront a period of crisis and uncertainty, there should be no more taboos in the classroom. It is in the interest of all democracies for young people to learn the value of free debate.

Thorbjørn Jagland is secretary general of the Council of Europe. Sayeeda Warsi is a U.K. parliamentarian, lawyer and chairwoman of the Baroness Warsi Foundation. Francesco Ragazzi is a lecturer in international relations at Leiden University and a research fellow at CCLS and CERI / Sciences Po in Paris.

Source : http://www.politico.eu/article/teaching-young-europeans-how-to-talk-about-terrorism-schools-major-role/