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KUNC is here to keep you up-to-date on the news about COVID-19 — the disease caused by the novel coronavirus — Colorado's response to its spread in our state and its impact on Coloradans.

With Threat Of Online Radicalization 'Bigger Than Ever,' Researchers Offer Guide For Parents

Annie Spratt
/
Unsplash

Researchers have released a new guide for parents about how to keep their kids from being recruited by extremists online.

The guide comes at a time when the pandemic's forcing children and young adults to stay home with more hours spent online, and they're prone to heightened anxiety amid social and political uncertainties, according to Cynthia Miller-Idriss, a sociologist at American University and author of the forthcoming book "Hate in the Homeland: The New Global Far Right."

"A lot of the drivers we know to be key to creating susceptibility to extremist narratives are things like depression, anxiety, a sense of economic precarity, lack of purpose or meaning – all of the things that people are feeling intensely at the moment," Miller-Idriss said. 

The guide is a collaboration between American University and the Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil rights watchdog. It's intended to help parents identify warning signs that their kids might be vulnerable to "radical-right propaganda."

"But we also want parents and caregivers to understand that it's not just about recognizing risks," Miller-Idriss said. "There are also ways to kind of build resilience to those narratives and proactive ways that help young people be less vulnerable to extremist rhetoric when they do encounter it."

For example, Miller-Idriss said extremist groups have used COVID-19 as a opportunity to promote racist and xenophobic conspiracy theories on social media about the virus’ origin.

By some measures, the Mountain West has seen a disproportionate amount of hate-related activities in recent years.

This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, the O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West in Montana, KUNC in Colorado, KUNM in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Rae Ellen Bichell was a reporter for KUNC and the Mountain West News Bureau from 2018 to 2020.
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