Giving young people a voice in preventing online radicalization to violence
The OSCE PA School Dialogues are a first-of-their-kind parliamentary initiative that brings parliamentarians directly into schools to engage with students, educators and local experts on online radicalization, digital safety and media literacy.
The initiative turns young people’s experience of the online world into concrete policy recommendations. It creates a structured space where students are not only heard, but actively contribute to discussions on prevention, resilience and safer online environments.
The initiative was launched by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Ad Hoc Committee on Countering Terrorism pursuant to the OSCE PA’s 2025 Resolution on Preventing Youth Radicalization to Violent Extremism and Terrorism through Education, and Media and Information Literacy, adopted at the 32nd Annual Session in Porto.
What is the model?
Each School Dialogue follows a practical, participatory format:
- Students engage with local experts and practitioners.
- They work in groups to discuss risks, needs and solutions.
- They develop targeted recommendations.
- They present and discuss their proposals directly with parliamentarians.
This classroom-based model connects local experience with parliamentary action.
Pedagogical framework
The School Dialogues are based on a pedagogical framework developed by Next Wave: The International Center for Children and Global Security, a specialized partner in children’s online safety, prevention and resilience.
Why does it matter?
The initiative responds to a growing concern across the OSCE region: youth polarization and radicalization to violence increasingly shaped by the online environment.
It gives students a direct channel to parliamentarians and civil society, helping ensure that their concerns and ideas inform policy discussions on online safety.
It also puts the OSCE PA’s policy work on artificial intelligence, media literacy and youth radicalization into practice, while strengthening community resilience on the ground.
What makes it unique?
The School Dialogues bring together three elements that are rarely combined in one format:
- direct parliamentary engagement in schools;
- structured dialogue with students, educators and experts;
- policy-oriented outcomes grounded in students’ lived experience.
This makes the initiative both practical and replicable across different national contexts.
Results so far
School Dialogues have so far been held in:
Pordenone, Italy — 27 November 2025
Cetinje, Montenegro — 24 March 2026
More than 200 students aged 13 to 18 have taken part in structured discussions with experts, community leaders, civil society representatives and parliamentarians.
These dialogues have generated 15 student proposals focused on media literacy, critical thinking, digital resilience, online safety and governance.
Key Lessons
Three findings stand out so far:
- Younger students ask first for protection, rules and safeguards.
- Older students ask to be heard, involved and consulted.
- Prevention strategies must therefore be age-sensitive and age-differentiated.
Across countries and age groups, students consistently ask not only for restrictions, but also for support, guidance and meaningful participation.
Looking ahead
The OSCE PA aims to expand the School Dialogues to additional participating States.
Future work will focus on:
- consolidating student proposals into a comparative findings paper;
- developing a policy-oriented analytical report;
- feeding these findings into future parliamentary work, including possible follow-up action at the 2027 Annual Session.
How to Support the Initiative
There are several ways to contribute:
Host a Dialogue
Co-host and organize a future School Dialogue.
Support the project financially
Contribute to the extra-budgetary project that sustains and expands the initiative.
Promote follow-up at national level
Help translate the findings into discussions on education, digital policy and youth safety.
Next Wave
Parliament of Montenegro
