Radicalised student highlights ‘growing issue’ in WA schools, experts say

Parents concerned about a group of students at Rossmoyne Senior High School wrote a letter to WA Education Minister Tony Buti airing fears they were trying to radicalise other students.

The group they were concerned about included the teenage boy shot dead by police in Perth on Saturday night in a confronting scene WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch said had “all the hallmarks of a terrorist incident”.

Police at the scene of a knife attack in Willetton on Saturday night.

On Monday, Premier Roger Cook confirmed Buti had referred the parents’ letter to the Department of Education for action, but remains unclear what action was taken. Requests to interview Director-General Lisa Rodgers on Monday were denied.

It remains unclear why the issue was left in the hands of the education department.

Experts said teachers, already facing increased workloads and mental health concerns in schools, had limited support to deal with issues around radicalisation – but there was a growing expectation they should be able to.

Perth Extremism Research Network launched a new resource in January, aimed at tackling growing extremism and disinformation in the WA community through education.

Director Ben Rich said teachers were massively overworked and under-supported in the field.

“The supports are not matching the expectations placed on teachers to deal with the problems young people face online,” he said.

“I feel this as a university lecturer, but to a lesser degree as I don’t have the same duty of care.”

He said the generation now going through school was the first to grow up living much of their lives on social media.

“There is more anxiety in the younger generations due to online influences, and extremists pick up on that – they gain more power when they home in on these anxieties or insecurities and the more performative they are, the more popular they get,” he said, citing influencer and alleged human trafficker Andrew Tate as a prime example.

“Some form of curriculum integration would be fantastic, to teach children to spot radical ideas online, about social cohesion and why these ideas are wrong.”

Technology requirements in schools also make it harder to monitor students in the classroom and at home, Rich said, making education even more vital.

The 16-year-old Rossmoyne student shot dead at the weekend was Caucasian and had been converted to an extremist version of Islam online.

It was revealed he had been part of a national de-radicalisation program for two years, alongside five others under 18 and four adults across WA.

Members of Perth’s Muslim community raised red flags about the boy with police.

Cook said the 16-year-old was part of the Countering Violent Extremism program, involving psychologists, the Department of Education, and faith leaders.

“We were obviously well aware of the thoughts that he was harbouring; he was an active participant in that program since he was 14, so two years ago,” Cook said.

“It’s a program to help individuals who are expressing ideologies that are of concern in our community, but they may not be committing any crimes.”

The Department of Education did not comment when asked questions by this masthead, but on its website states teachers and support staff are “skilled in identifying changes in the behaviour of all at-risk students, assessing potential concerns and providing appropriate support when needed.”

Tasmanian crossbench senator Jacqui Lambie told Nine’s Today program on Monday she was “terribly concerned” about what happened, as well as the rise of social media radicalisation in schools.

She said it was time to talk about putting fully qualified psychiatrists or psychologists in schools and “maybe looking at reducing the chaplains program because I’m not sure that is helpful either”.

However, Principals Federation WA president Bevan Ripp didn’t agree.

“Chaplains are very important and do an enormous job in schools, I would hate for them to be defunded,” he said.

Ripp said the issue of radicalisation in schools had not been brought to his attention, and cases similar to that of the 16-year-old Willetton attacker were seemingly rare in WA.

Imam Syed Wadood Janud said, on behalf of Perth’s Ahmadiyya Muslim community, he wanted to condemn the incident “in the harshest of terms possible”.

“It has come as a deep shock to us. It is concerning to us, we are worried,” he said.

Former Perth Imam Kamran Tahir, now based in Adelaide, said better education on the Islamic faith was also needed to help contradict the radical ideologies often discussed online.

The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here.