‘Critical thinking, reading can arm children against extremism’

AMMAN — Instilling the love of critical reading among children at a young age is key to empowering them to fight extremism, education experts said on Wednesday.

Speaking at a panel discussion to honour fourth grader Ruaa Hammo, who won second place regionally and first place locally in the Arab Reading Challenge of 2016, Hazaa Barari, adviser to the culture minister, said readers cannot fall victim to terrorist groups because they "can never be extremists".

The declining spread of reading has potentially "terrifying" consequences as extremism continues to spread, Barari warned.

Also speaking at the panel, organised by the Abdul Hameed Shoman Foundation (AHSF), Rana Dajani, a professor at the Hashemite University and the founder and director of the "We Love Reading" initiative, said that readers do not believe anything they are told without getting back to reliable sources to confirm or disprove it. 

Hammo, recognised as the "ambassador of reading", is a student at Ahliyyah School for Girls. She received prizes of $80,000 and $10,000 in the challenge, supported by Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the vice president and prime minister of the UAE.

Around 3 million contestants from Arab and foreign countries competed in the challenge. A total of 186,000 students from Jordan participated in the challenge, reading 9.3 million books, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Senator Haifa Najjar, the principal of Hammo's school, called for promoting critical thinking and reading among students.

“It’s a collective responsibility. We are all accountable," Najjar told The Jordan Times. 

She stressed that the role of schools goes beyond the curricula into inviting thinking and dialogue.

Suzan Hilo, the teacher of  Hammo’s school, said that the reading ambassador’s role is to inspire other children and encourage them to read.