In current society, we as collective citizens all across the globe are on a constant alert for terrorists as well as terrorist attacks, a fear which has heightened extensively throughout the last decade. One of the major fears of terrorist in current time is that many terrorist organizations, specifically ISIS, are able to recruit individuals all across the globe, from the use of encryptions in social media, which are difficult for intelligence agencies everywhere to assess in order to find those who are wanting to attack. What is extremely outstanding is that many kids and teenagers around the world are being enticed into a life of terrorism, leading to a greater climate of suspicion. Although the fear is great and deep, recently, a teenager in Australia has been detained for singularly plotting a terrorist attack.

According to the article “Sixteen-year-old arrested in Anzac terror plot to plead not guilty” written by Euan McKirdy and published by CNN, the teenager, although presented with the charges, will plead not guilty of plotting a terrorist attack on Anzac day. According to the article “His lawyer, Zamarai Khatiz, added outside Parramatta Children’s Court that the minor did not apply for bail. The defense will defer that application until the end of the week, he said, after a psychologist has visited his client and complied a report on the effects of detention on him.” Furthermore, Khatiz elaborated on how the teens current mental state from incarceration will be able to be a playable factor is his upcoming trial.

Arrested by South Wales police and facing a penalty of a life sentence, the article elaborated that “Police believe the teen was planning on disrupting Anzac commemorations in Sydney. The occasion, which is observed annually, honors Australian and New Zealand troops who served or were killed in armed conflict, and fall on the anniversary of the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps’ landing at Gallipoli, Turkey in 1915.” Although the teen has only been arrested recently, police forces in Australia have had knowledge of the teenagers plans since May of last year, and that the teenager was recently arrested after attempting to purchase a firearm.

One of the more shocking aspects of the teenager’s case which correlates with the current climate of recruiting terrorists is how vulnerable teenagers are to radicalization. According to the article “Federal police Commander Chris Sheehan said: ‘In Australia and around the world, the age of people radicalized is getting younger, with online grooming tactics similar to those used by sexual predators.” To add on to how much the young boy was radicalized, after policed searched the teenager’s home they found evidence that he was almost finished with planning his attack along with radical propaganda, leading to authorities to believe that the child was being groomed online for the attack. Nevertheless, the young teenager is not the alone Australian youth that has been charged with conducting a terrorist plot as another Australian teenager had appeared in an ISIS propaganda video which stated that the teenager was wanting to put the ISIS flag on the White House.