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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think why is it always the straight A students that sod off and join terrorists?

79 replies

OhBuggerItAgain · 21/02/2015 09:53

to think why is it always the straight A students that sod off and join terrorists, its never the thickies?

do they know something we don't? I mean they are obviously really bright? or not - is it like when someone dies and everyone says how lovely the person was?

OP posts:
RandomNPC · 21/02/2015 15:50

Got to agree with HolgerDanske

HolgerDanske · 21/02/2015 15:51

Quite.

Doesn't make what you did any less tasteless.

Latara · 21/02/2015 15:54

The leaders of the Nazi elite & the Einsatzgruppen who killed all the Jewish people weren't stupid - many of them had PHDs.

The leaders of ISIL aren't stupid either as their adeptness at social media and appealing to 'jihadis' shows.

Also, 'straight A' students are more likely to think deeply about world issues such as politics, and at a young age are more likely to join radical political groups.

The 'more intelligent' ones tend to lead these groups, and then they try to appeal to the basic instincts of the not so deep thinking people, their followers.

Fairyliz · 21/02/2015 15:54

How do we actually know they are grade A students? The school/parents/friends are not going to say 'well they are a bit thick no wonder they went' are they?

nochocolateforlentteacake · 21/02/2015 15:55

Academically bright doesn't necessarily mean having any common sense.

Brains crammed with facts, lots of bookwork with little actual life.

Feeling teenagey and hormonal, and desperate to get away.

Believing the hype that you are actually brilliant and really do know it all.

aurorablues · 21/02/2015 16:47

I was probably loudly pondering how anyone could be stupid enough to be brainwashed

We are all being psychologically manipulated from all different angles and varying different degrees on a daily basis.

TiggyD · 21/02/2015 16:49

The think ones don't know what a Syria is? They don't really get pollytics? They can't be arsed and would rather be on the XBox? They don't have money because they're too think to earn it so they can't afford the flight, not that they could even figure out how to get how to get to forrinland if they wanted to?

grimbletart · 21/02/2015 17:45

Academic brilliance and common sense don't always go together. In fact they often don't. Any teenager with common sense immediately knows that ISIL are evil bastards and a teenage girl's likely role with them is to be married off (which means raped in real terms), to breed, cook, clean and be used for propaganda purposes.

Brilliant ones quite often shouldn't be let out without a nanny because they are not operating in the real world.

StillLostAtTheStation · 21/02/2015 17:55

I suspect that good academic progress is one of those things some media latch on to where they can, a bit like price of house

It's like any scandal involving lawyers or fee paying schools. Only high- flying/ blue chip lawyers and the pupils/teachers of leading/top schools ever do anything wrong.

I'm struggling to see how running away from the UK to join IS in Syria is displaying a great deal of intelligence.

StillLostAtTheStation · 21/02/2015 17:59

How do we actually know they are grade A students? The school/parents/friends are not going to say 'well they are a bit thick no wonder they went' are they?

Yes -it's the same as miscreant lawyers and public school staff. The moderately average apparently never stray.

OTheHugeManatee · 21/02/2015 18:03

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cardibach · 21/02/2015 18:06

What I can't understand is how on earth they were allowed to board a plane unaccompanied? Lovemycat why would anyone stop them? They were 16/17 and heading for Turkey. My DD and her friends went on a girls' holiday at similar ages. They presumably didn't wear a sign stating their intentions...
I think it's a mix between people talking them up in sympathy and what other posters have said about deep thinking and radicalism in general.

cardibach · 21/02/2015 18:08

I do, however, get cross with people saying it's 'not hard' to be a straight A student anymore. Of course it is. Try taking some of the exams yourself instead of denigrating and patronising hard working students' successes.

drudgetrudy · 21/02/2015 18:21

I think that it is often intelligent young people who are vulnerable to getting involved in this kind of thing.
They are intellectually bright but emotionally inexperienced and immature.
They take an interest in politics and espouse a cause without seeing the whole picture.
They think that they are freedom fighters who can change the world and they are vulnerable to exploitation by older people with warped minds.
Most suicide bombers for example are young-not the middle aged people who set them up to it and it is mostly bright, idealistic young people who get involved.

Fuckup · 21/02/2015 18:29

Farfromanyroads post hits the nail on the head. Intelligent people are increasingly disillusioned by the hypocrisy and disingenuous nature of the west. Unfortunately this occasionally leads to an infatuation with extremes alternatives. Also I think there's something to be said for rebelling against academic pressure etc.

OTheHugeManatee · 21/02/2015 18:39

Cardibach I was a straight A student when I was at school and it wasn't that hard them. And exams have definitely got easier since. Flame away Smile

HolgerDanske · 21/02/2015 18:39

That's not at all what I meant. Firstly there was no 'anymore' in my statement so I'm not making any comparisons - I'm definitely not one to denigrate and patronise 'youth of today' on exams and such (and actually I'm not that old myself) and I was hugely proud of my daughter's clutch of A level results. Of course it takes hard work and determination for all but the most freakishly gifted. What I meant was, it's not necessarily hard for the sort of person who has that innate level of intelligence or whose brain is well geared toward academic learning. It's hard work, yes. But it's not generally hard for them in the same way that it might be for someone who has little academic bent.

HolgerDanske · 21/02/2015 18:44

Sigh, it's hard to get to the point of what I'm trying to say. It just doesn't necessarily mean you're some kind of genius. It's not that hard. It wasn't hard for me and it's not hard for a lot of other people. But that doesn't mean A levels are worthless, and it doesn't mean young kids these days aren't clever or hardworking etc etc. It does mean that it's quite possible for someone to do very well indeed at A levels and still not be all that emotionally intelligent, or well suited to life. I've not done anything with my academic ability, and my university career was laughable even though I could and should have done brilliantly.

Roseformeplease · 21/02/2015 18:49

Years and years ago, I was at a (school) talk given by a young man and his mother. He had been sent as a student journalist (Durham Uni) to report on a cult. It took her 3 years to get him out. They had all sorts of research that suggested that the brighter students were far more susceptible.

I know times have changed but, I suspect, some of that research may well still be valid in these circumstances.

GhoulWithADragonTattoo · 21/02/2015 19:06

A lot of young intelligent people are idealists.

Mumoftwoyoungkids · 21/02/2015 20:11

I guess it's a combination of 4 things:-

  1. A reasonable proportion of people are academically high achieving.
  2. In circumstances like this their achievements will be exaggerated. "Straight A student" probably means "got an A in something once, probably".
  3. It makes it a more interesting story (look at us all talking about it) and so more likely to be reported o .
  4. High achievers are often obsessives. That's how they become high achievers in the first place. Obsessiveness is probably a common trait in terrorists.
cardibach · 21/02/2015 20:24

Manatee write me this essay then: 'Explore the way Shakespeare portrays commitment in Romeo and Juliet. How do the poets (you should write about Browning's 'Porphyria's Lover', Marvell's 'To His Coy Mistress' and at least one other poem you have studied) explore commitment? Compare the presentation of commitment in Romeo and Juliet and the poems.'
You have 4 hours. It will be worth 25% of your GCSE English Literature.
I don't have detailed knowledge of other subjects, but bloody hell! I didn't have to do anything approaching that difficult at GCSE!

cardibach · 21/02/2015 20:25

Well, O level. I'm old. I have also been teaching English for over 20 years. I guarantee it isn't easier now at either GCSE or A level.

Eastpoint · 24/02/2015 07:51

Article by Libby Purves in yesterday's Times started 'How often, reporting a teenage suicide or drug disaster, do we describe the lost one as an "A-grade student"? And vaunt, too late, their prestigious university place?' Just saying 'hello' to you Libby if you read this thread on Sunday... Grin Your article raises some good points to talk over with my teens.

BigChocFrenzy · 24/02/2015 09:00

All countries (theoretically) check people arriving, of course, but the UK is one of the very few countries that don't seem to check people leaving the country via air.
Being able to leave a country without checks is thought by many here to be an important civil liberty, but that may need to be reviewed.

Kids do travel without adult for legitimate reasons like family visits; also, it would be difficult to judge age of girls wearing burkhas, even head scarves so long as they are not clearly under 5'.