Racists Are Recruiting. Watch Your White Sons.

Racists Are Recruiting. Watch Your White Sons.

Parents need to understand how white supremacists prey on teen boys, so they can intervene.

By Joanna Schroeder, Opinion, at the NY Times

Oct. 12, 2019

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/12/opinion/sunday/white-supremacist-recruitment.html#click=https://t.co/iZ0F2c9hZX

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Inevitably, kids who have encountered these messages will mimic extremist talking points, and those of us who find these views repulsive may be tempted to yell at them, ground them or take away their devices in a futile attempt to keep them away from this propaganda.

The problem is, punitive responses often create a sense of shame that can feed a growing sense of anger — an anger the alt-right is eager to exploit.

What really hooks many white teenagers is the alt-right’s insistence that white men are under attack in America, the true victims of oppression. If your child has already been punished for his opinions, this message is especially resonant. They find a home for their rage, a brotherhood of guys like them, and that oh-so-alluring heroic struggle — and that’s how an extremist is born.

One family Dr. Duffy sees in his clinical practice found that the key to opening up conversation with their son, who was showing signs of indoctrination into alt-right communities, was to start by saying they were proud of his efforts to develop opinions that weren’t spoon-fed to him and to promise to listen to their son’s perspective if he would listen to theirs.

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