Youth workshops and RadEscape -escape room
Youth workshops and RadEscape – escape room
Save the Children’s workshops for 13-19 olds deal with violent extremism and themes closely related to it, such as hate speech and violent videos on social media by using a pedagogical escape game.
What is RadEscape?
RadEscape is an escape game that illustrates violent radicalization developed for learning purposes. In RadEscape, the processes of developing extremist beliefs are discussed from the perspectives of both the individual and society, and we consider what each of us can do to prevent the spread of hateful thought patterns.
RadEscape strenghtens democratic skills by encouraging critical thinking and self-reflection. The main theme of the game is the participation of young people and their own agency: it encourages young people to intervene constructively in the social problems they perceive and thus actively promote the realization of social peace.
RadEscape has been developed in cooperation with experts in game pedagogy and extremism prevention. The development of the game has been made possible by the Ministry of Justice.
Why to talk with young people about extremism?
According to research, young people experience learning ways of societal influence poorly, while increasingly perceiving violence as a more effective means to exert influence. Youth work professionals have also noticed achanging culture of violence among youth: almost every other youth professional has encountered a young person whose way of thinking contains violent features.
Strengthening the resilience of young people in relation to violent and harmful ideologies is key in preventing hostile attitudes and violent extremism. In practice, this means, for example, strengthening critical thinking, media literacy, emotional skills and self-regulation.
By strengthening the resilience of young people, we support their growth and development towards reflective and democratic members of society.
