The global community's concern over atrocities committed by extremist groups like the Islamic State (ISIS) continues to grow every day, with the public holding its breath on what act of violence these groups will commit next.
As it turns out, these terrorist organisations have a very potent weapon they can use to spread fear around the world: the young minds of millions of Arab kids not receiving proper education.
As many as 20 million Arab children are either out of school or are very much at risk of losing their schooling due to various reasons, according to Christian satellite television station SAT-7 which has a ministry in the Middle East and North Africa.
Rex Rogers, president of SAT-7, explained that the conflict in their countries is forcing Arab children out of their schools. Some of them have to flee their homes, go to a foreign territory such as Europe to become refugees, and then abandon their schooling altogether.
As a result of their lack of education, these kids become very vulnerable to extremist ideologies.
"So very quickly you can have a nine-year-old boy who has not been in school for five years. And five years goes by and he's 14 and able to carry a rifle. The illiterate are the ones who are the most vulnerable to extremist ideas, extremist groups," Rogers said in a report by MNNOnline.org.
These young ones are drawn to extremist organisations who provide food, shelter, income and even status, he added.
To help avoid this, SAT-7 is trying to provide education to Arab kids through the use of television.
"So, again we're very concerned about that. We're developing a new programming for education on our kids channel that aims at teaching English and Arab-English courses, and economic tools for jobs ... But behind all that is just teaching them to think independently, to think analytically," Rogers explained.
He likewise urged Christians to pray for the enlightenment of Arab children and to help support SAT-7 through donations.
"The most important concern of course is their soul, their eternal destiny. We are a Christian channel and we're still teaching and working from a Christian worldview perspective," Rogers said.
