Children's Rights Archives

Violence-fixated children referred to Prevent, and then sent back again – Children’s Commissioner demands reform of anti-extremism programme

Two-thirds of children referred to Prevent by schools and colleges were returned to education settings – and in almost all of these the cases (93 per cent) the children received no support from Prevent. The Children’s Commissioner’s latest report draws on new data, interviews with professionals and new analysis of official figures to reveal the journeys taken by children in the government’s counter extremism programme. The study describes a system with a great deal of worry about children, seeking somewhere for them to get help, or someone to hold responsibility for them, and not finding it. Dame Rachel de Souza recommends that children currently sent to Prevent should be assessed through local safeguarding teams – which should include Counter Terrorism Policing – and directed to the right support. Read more on The Children’s Commissioner’s website. Related… Babies and Muslims lost in a flood of Home Office statistics on Prevent strategy

18 August 202618 August 2026 By Senior Editor

The Times: Children becoming ‘intoxicated with extremism’ on social media

Dame Rachel de Souza, the children’s commissioner, calls for a range of curbs to be introduced amid concerns over a ‘fascination’ with violence and extremism on social media. Read full article at The Times (paywall) Related… The Guardian: AI-generated British schoolgirl Amelia is now a far-right social media star

18 August 202618 August 2026 By Senior Editor

Parliamentary Work

A Summary of our Submission to the Children’s Commissioner

Prevent Watch submitted evidence privately to the Children’s Commissioner specifically outlining the harms of Prevent on children. Our submission highlighted that: 36% of referrals in the year ending March 2025 came from the school sector (nursery, primary, secondary schools and sixth form colleges). Around half of all referrals (49%) were between the ages of 11-17, with 4% being under the age of 10. Once referred to Prevent, even though no crime has been committed or even conceived, children are involved in the criminal justice system. This includes possible interview by CT police without the safeguards provided by PACE 1984, such as the presence of a parent or guardian. Subsequent to a referral, notwithstanding the outcome, their information will be kept on several police databases for a minimum of six years and up to 100 years, and until age 25 on social services databases, impacting their education and career. Not only […]

28 January 202628 July 2026 By Senior Editor

Picture of adolescent male under spotlight for article on autistic boy on UK Channel programme

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‘None of what he was doing and saying had anything to do with becoming a terrorist’ – mum of autistic teen who passed through Channel programme speaks

At the point of involvement in the Channel programme, since my son had been referred to Prevent, this fundamentally altered how professionals viewed him, and it had real consequences for how they interpreted and responded to risk, vulnerability, and identity – the whole process was punitive and did not do justice to my autistic son. I wanted to share my son’s story to show how Prevent and Channel processes can fail to meet the needs of neurodivergent children, and how they can misinterpret autistic traits such as hyperfocus, imitation, and social vulnerability as ideological commitment, especially when it comes to adolescence and digitally mediated environments. We engaged with Prevent and Channel in good faith and I hope his story informs more proportionate, neurodiversity-informed practice. I do not dispute the importance of safeguarding or responding to genuine risks of extremism. My son Luke* has had difficulties from nursery age. He was first diagnosed […]

13 January 202620 January 2026 By Senior Editor

BBC: Boys to be sent on courses to tackle misogyny in schools

Teachers will be given training to spot and tackle misogyny in schools, the BBC reports, while high-risk pupils could be sent on behavioural courses as part of the government’s strategy to halve violence against women and girls in the next decade. The plans for schools in England – which focus on preventing the radicalisation of young men – will be unveiled later after being pushed back three times. Pupils will be taught about consent, the dangers of sharing intimate images, how to identify positive role models, and to challenge unhealthy myths about women and relationships. The £20m package will include a new helpline for teenagers to get support for concerns about abuse in their own relationships. Read more on the BBC. Related… The Guardian: Report into Prevent strategy to suggest new ‘scheme’ to detect people ‘obsessed with violence’ (July, 2025)

18 December 202518 December 2025 By Senior Editor

Picture of man's hands with laptop and statistics for article on latest Home Office statistics on the Prevent strategy in the UK

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Revealed: Babies and Muslims lost in a flood of Home Office statistics on Prevent strategy

Prevent Watch Director Layla Aitlhadj draws out the real implications of the latest Home Office statistics in relation to the Prevent strategy – here are three important things the latest referrals numbers tell us. Each year the Home Office publishes statistics on Prevent referrals in the name of transparency. However, each year Prevent Watch has warned that these statistics are not only misleading but reinforce the criminalisation of children and increase community tensions. Shortly after the publication of the statistics for 2024/2025 the media highlighted the high numbers of referrals for right-wing “extremism”, but it is important to consider two aspects before they slip under the proverbial carpet: that infants – yes, babies! – are being referred to counter-terrorism; and that high numbers of right-wing referrals do not justify Prevent by any means. 1. Children from 0-10 years are being referred to counter-terrorism Since 2015, the Home Office has presented […]

9 December 202514 January 2026 By Senior Editor

Hyphen: ‘Hundreds’ of babies and toddlers referred to counter-terrorism scheme Prevent

Babies and toddlers have been referred to the government’s controversial counter-terrorism scheme Prevent hundreds of times since 2016, Hyphen has revealed. Infants who had not yet turned two were referred to Prevent 86 times between 2016-17 and 2023-24 — with more than two-thirds (59) of these referrals over so-called “Islamist” concerns, data obtained by this website shows. Children aged two to five, inclusive, were referred to Prevent a further 500 times over this eight-year period. Alexander Gent, the chair of the National Association of Muslim Police, said he was “absolutely shocked” by Hyphen’s findings. The human rights charity Rights & Security International raised concerns earlier this year that the personal data of those referred to Prevent may be being duplicated across a “convoluted spider’s web” of publicly administered databases, where it may remain visible to police, immigration authorities and other agencies even after the initial entry has been deleted. “These […]

13 November 202513 November 2025 By Senior Editor

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Challenging the Prevent duty in securitised schools

Our recent webinar explored the Prevent duty in securitised schools, the recent aspects that further strengthen Prevent and what Prevent Watch can do to challenge referrals. By Mariam A Schools in the UK have increasingly become sites of securitisation, rather than safe places for learning and free expression. One of several changes that has facilitated this in the last decade is the introduction of Prevent – part of the UK’s counter-terrorism strategy CONTEST – as a statutory duty for educators. This presence of the Prevent duty in education has contributed to the increased security and surveillance in classrooms, which has been flagged as a concern by several human rights groups as well as the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education. These concerns are shared by Prevent Watch. In our recent webinar, we explored how Prevent has contributed to […]

30 October 202531 October 2025 By Senior Editor

CRIN report counter terrorism and children's rights

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CRIN: To Protect or Punish? Children, counter-terrorism and the criminal justice system

CRIN’s latest report shows how all stages of the UK’s counter-terrorism system threaten children’s rights in chilling ways. From pre-criminal, to pre-trial, to trial and sentencing, we need reforms and approaches that genuinely protect children. CRIN has long held concerns over the growth of counter-terrorism strategies and its impact on children’s rights in the UK. Having previously examined the effects of the Prevent strategy on children, this report follows the journey a child might make through the criminal justice system. What happens if a child is accused of counter-terrorism? What determines if a child is brought to a Youth or a Criminal court? How can children be drawn into counter-terrorist policing without committing a criminal act? Our report begins in the pre-criminal space by considering the impact of stop and search practices under counter-terrorism, the Prevent programme and the challenges of counter-terrorist law in digital spaces. It continues into pre-trial […]

15 September 20255 March 2026 By Senior Editor

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Middle East Eye: The poisoned politics around Muslim integration

In the toxic discussions around Muslim integration, the ‘fear of being called racist’ has been used during the Trojan Horse Affair and at the same time as the excuse for failures to act on child sexual exploitation. Prof. John Holmwood asks whether this fear even exists, or are deeper racist politics at play? There has been a steady drumbeat, in right-wing and liberal media alike, about the failure of British Muslims to integrate. This drumbeat warns of self-segregated lives insulated from mainstream values. This is often fed by official reports that are occasioned by media “scares” and used to align public policy with media-driven concerns highlighting threats to public safety. Among the most potent of such concerns are those involving children and young people. On the one hand, there is the claimed risk of “radicalisation” and involvement in “Islamist” terrorism to which some young people may be vulnerable (because, we […]

15 July 20251 September 2025 By Senior Editor

Children’s Rights