Indoctrination is the process of teaching a set of beliefs, ideologies and values to the youth as it’s easier to shape their perspectives and behaviours. The younger a person’s mind is, the more they are vulnerable to accepting beliefs and information without being critical. A more common name for this process you might be familiar with is “brainwashing”, often times adults take advantage of the youth to shape them in a certain way with beliefs which may decrease their critical thinking skills. This is a huge issue that needs to come to light as young minds are the key to shaping our future.
Indoctrination can be used to set beliefs for different purposes, for example, religious beliefs may be implemented to a child when they are younger which makes it easier for them to accept beliefs without criticising. In more extreme cases, indoctrination hugely benefited extremists and cults who make sure they are the only source of information to the youth, making it easier to “brainwash” them. Similarly, Indoctrination can be used as a strategy for political organisations and leaders as it is important to ensure that future generations inherit the same beliefs as the regime. Many believe that racist, sexist, homophobic and extremist views are the cause of generational youth indoctrination.
Methods Of Indoctrination
Various techniques are used all over the world to indoctrinate the youth
Education Systems - School curriculums can be designed to emphasise specific beliefs or ideologies. They can often twist historical, scientific or moral viewpoints to align with particular ideologies and values. An example of this is when countries are accused of publishing textbooks that promote religious or nationalist ideologies while distorting narratives, when they should be neutral and only focus on educating the youth.
Social and Cultural Institutions- To implement religious, social and cultural ideologies, organizations such as youth groups and “educational programmes” These groups significantly influence the young minds as they perpetuate values and beliefs. An example of this are the Hitler Youth groups created in Nazi Germany to teach German children on Nazi ideologies like anti-semitism. Religious schools can heavily effect a student’s beliefs and values.
Propaganda and Media - This creates a crucial role in the indoctrination of the youth, information and ideologies can be spread out through media such as television, radio and social media which children often have access to. Social Media is a known example of spreading ideologies quickly among not even the youth but also the elderly. Influence from social media can also pressure children into following and believing certain ideologies.
There are huge ethical concerns implicated when it comes to the indoctrination of the youth as it violates the ability of allowing young people to develop and explore their own beliefs and values. This also take’s power over the youth’s vulnerability as they can be used as to support a particular agenda. Over time, indoctrination has been more controlled as people have been more accepting to change but it cannot go unnoticed, many children around the world are having access to false and manipulated knowledge just to implement ideologies easily into their minds without resistance.
Case Studies
Nazi Germany- The German Youth were targeted by the Nazis as an audience to spread propaganda messages. The Nazis believed that the youth were responsible for the future of Germany and in doing so, indoctrinated their beliefs through school curriculums, youth organizations, and military service. As more and more children joined, they could easily believe any anti-Semitic anti-human ideologies without questioning. And so with indoctrination, the Nazis ensured that they have prepared the youth for their futures.
North Korea - The indoctrination process starts from a very young age through the education system which emphasises on the greatness of the Kim regime. Education is hugely focused on biased history which is often known for not being true, the leaders of North Korea are also thought to be “god-like “ figures. Children are also exposed to propaganda that demonizes the state’s enemies like the United States and South Korea. North Korea is also an extremely isolated country making it easier for indoctrination as it is not possible for children to have foreign sources of information.
Cults (The Children Of God) - A religious movement founded in the 90’s by David Berg. They are a group well known for indoctrinating children to ensure that they are loyal to the cult’s beliefs. Children lived in communs and were isolated from society with restricted media access making the cult their only source of information. This makes it easier to teach them the cult’s ideologies. There was an intensive method of indoctrination with teachings of Berg’s writings everyday and had to memorize doctrines by heart. Questioning these ideologies were hugely discouraged with consequences being severe. The Cult’s indoctrination had huge psychological scarring on children and has caused knowledge gaps in their education.
These real world examples show the extreme consequences as a result from indoctrination. Huge psychological damage can occur as indoctrination suppresses critical thinking while also promotes unopinionated acceptance. Cognitive Dissonance is one psychological impact as when young people get challenged on their indoctrinated views, they experience confusion and anxiety while it is difficult to process new information. A huge problem with indoctrination is that it limits a person’s ability to adopt new ideas and limits personal growth. This can also lead to a desire for support as independent thoughts are discouraged.
When addressing issues with youth indoctrination, different approaches can be used to confront or recover from this situation. It is important that students should be encouraged to develop critical thinking skills while questioning information by analysing the situation from different perspectives. This makes a person flexible with change as they are exposed to different viewpoints and ideologies and can be more open-minded.
Conlcusion
Indoctrination Of The Youth is a complex issue with consequences that can effect our everyday lives. While it can be seen as a powerful tool to spread specific ideologies, it can hinder with a child’s critical thinking skills and increases their dependence on others. Addressing this issue can be taken into action by promoting neutral education systems and inclusivity among many other things. It’s important to acknowledge that Indoctrination can hugely effect our future when it its the youth that is responsible for what comes next.
About the author
Livia is 14 year old teen from Myanmar who lives in Bangkok. She’s passionate about writing and researching topics related to psychology, politics, economics and law. Livia volunteeres for engagepolicia and is the founder of her own youth organization “The Econ Vangaurd” In addition to that, she is a photographer for “The Last Chance Journals “and a researcher for “She’s Business” Livia also volunteers in Marketing and Communications for” Revolution Racing “and is an active volunteer in “The Burman” Livia is dedicated to contributing to society no matter the circumstances and hopes to have more achievements in the future.
References
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Time. (1928, December 31). Education: indoctrination of youth. TIME. https://time.com/archive/6861730/education-indoctrination-of-youth/
Chazan, B. (2021). What is “Indoctrination”? In Springer eBooks (pp. 35–42). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-83925-3_5\
Indoctrinating youth. (n.d.). https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/indoctrinating-youth
Wikipedia contributors. (2024a, July 2). The Family International. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Family_International
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