CONSENT DENIED: How PREVENT questions children without parental involvement

The British government on the 1 July 2015 enforced a new statutory Prevent duty to stop individuals from being drawn into terrorism and extremism. CAGE’s experience in monitoring the operational implementation on PREVENT reveals that schools are referring children to PREVENT officers, or permitting children to be questioned on ideology, politics and religion without consent from parents or guardians. The schools involved in these cases have not sent letters home or called for consent from parents. It should be noted that the cases illustrated represent only a sample of the cases that have come to CAGE. In almost every single case involving children, consent is not obtained from parents or guardians. The following case based evidence demonstrates the operational implementation of PREVENT in educational institutions. The report is concluded by important recommendations for schools and PREVENT practitioners to consider.