Al-Azhar Observatory for Combating Extremism (AOCE), in collaboration with the Central Administration for Student Affairs of Al-Azhar Institute Sector, continues AOCE’s interactive awareness workshops in Port Said under the slogan “Insight”. The camp aims to safeguard youth and promote the values of citizenship and intellectual awareness.
AOCE researchers reviewed the AOCE role, objectives, and mechanisms for monitoring and analyzing extremist ideologies. They pointed out the strategies employed by terrorist organizations to recruit young people and explained the importance of building critical thinking skills to distinguish between facts and deliberate misleading propaganda.
Furthermore, AOCE researchers addressed the impact of social media on the moral values and mental health of young people. They warned against the dangers of shifting from interactive use to living within "virtual isolation bubbles" that disconnect individuals from their real life. The discussions raised a pivotal question regarding the extent of our free will in choosing what we consume versus the power of platform algorithms, and how this is exploited to attract young people and gradually push them towards extremist ideologies through subtle and highly sophisticated digital tools.
Moreover, AOCE researcher discussed the issue of digital addiction and its serious repercussions on the physical, psychological, and mental health of children and youth, such as sleep disturbances, poor concentration, social isolation, and academic decline, as the most affected categories. They pointed out that confronting such danger, which lures young minds through impassioned slogans, begins with strengthening human ethics. In addition, developing critical thinking among students became a must to preserve the stability of their societies and their identity.
The interactive workshops highlighted that intellectual awareness and knowledge are the first line of defense and the bulwark of national and moral identity for the younger generation.