00:04how many of you watching this have teenage sons in their rooms online right now
00:09whether they are on their phone a laptop computer or netbook it is unrealistic to believe that we
00:14know exactly what they are doing or who they are talking to as parents we can add safety
00:19restrictions to devices and minimalism screen time but can that alone stop them from becoming
00:24involved in the extreme right wing let me tell you how my son became involved he was
00:29introduced by a friend whilst at school that friend showed him a meme on his phone that meme
00:34stated that soldiers shouldn't be on the streets whilst immigrants were taking all the houses
00:39he then asked my son if agreed then invited him to an online forum my son naive and angered joined
00:46and
00:46within weeks he had become entangled in extremism safety restrictions online couldn't have prevented
00:52it restricting screen time couldn't have prevented it and as he wasn't public or never discussed his
00:57views or opinions with myself or family members and was encouraged to keep his involvement secret
01:02i couldn't prevent it because i was completely unaware that it was happening i overheard the
01:08conversations he was having with others in his room and those conversations sounded like any other
01:12typical teenage boy i would observe him gaming or watching videos online i'd had the difficult
01:18conversations about online safety and predators that wanted to exploit children so i honestly believed
01:23that we were okay and we would be safe what i wasn't counting on was my usually over honest son
01:29learning to be deceptive and secretive he learned to lie and to deceive with ease he would talk on the
01:35phone whilst out of the home and would spend hours online whilst i was asleep hours online visiting
01:41forums that no safety restrictions could prevent i believed that children of that age deserved a certain
01:46amount of privacy so i didn't check his phone i trusted him and prior to that we had a good
01:51open
01:51dialogue and could talk about most things openly so you see radicalization and extremism can happen
01:57to anyone if you want to prevent it from happening to you then familiarize yourself with the signs of
02:02radicalization and extremism as those signs can often detect involvement when little else can if you are
02:08concerned about a loved one then please reach out to act early they can offer you free confidential
02:14advice and support just search for them online or if you would like to talk to people with lived
02:19experience of the impact of extremism please come and talk to us over at exit hate we understand and
02:25never judge
02:25never judge
