DAMMAM: Parents and professionally trained counselors play a vital role in the fight against extremist groups and their attempts to recruit young people, according to experts.

Farhan Al-Enizi, a member of the Prince Mohammed bin Naif Counseling and Care Center, said that deviant behavior can be categorized as supporting extremist views, expressed through behavior and accessing websites of groups propagating these views.

Al-Enizi said that if families are unable to deal with young people expressing such views, then they must contact the police, which would be able to guide them to organizations where these young people can be counseled.

He said that failure to do so would result in serious consequences for the individual and society. Parents or guardians must ensure that the children under their care must have access to proper counseling, he said.

A security expert said parents must monitor their children, check who their companions are and make contact with the police and other security agencies if they detect any kind of extremist behavior.

He said it was also important for schools to ensure that children are not subjected to any form of ethnic or other discrimination that could isolate them from the community.

Mohammed bin Saleh, a sociologist, said there is a direct correlation between the safety of a society and its levels of extremism. He said this problem has to be addressed jointly by civil society institutions, intellectuals and government agencies.

There should be a special focus on education, sports and cultural programs to spread a culture of tolerance, peace and coexistence, said Bin Saleh. He said that there must be an emphasis on awareness campaigns to protect the freedoms of citizens and residents in accordance with the teachings of Islam.