Nahid Bashatah Al Jazirah It is sad that some educational institutions play a role, even though it is of an indirect and secondary nature, in promoting crimes such as terrorism. This is a reality and the authorities must deal with it. As an overseas student, I am not talking about curricula or male and female teachers, but rather the larger role of the Ministry of Education, cultural attachés and student clubs in taking care of the psychological state of Saudi students abroad. This is as important as providing academic supervision and training. A student recently asked me for the contact details of a lawyer because he needed help with a problem that he was facing at the university where he was studying. He seemed confused and sad while talking about his suffering and misery. Not long after, I saw him hanging out with some young men who did not seem to be students from the way they were dressed. They looked like extremists. I wondered if those men had offered to help and support the young man who had recently asked me for the contact details of a lawyer. If so, wouldn't it be easy for them to influence him in a negative way? When people go to other countries, away from their families, they risk falling apart mentally and turning to extremism as a coping mechanism. They may become weak and do something that they later regret. Joining such groups is dependent upon several personal and environmental factors that increase the chances of people taking such drastic action. I think it is important that Saudi students abroad feel that they can always get psychological support whenever they need it. I wonder why our cultural attachés do not take care of the psychological state of Saudi students abroad in the way that British universities do with their students. In a British university, a supervisor might call a department meeting to discuss the social and psychological situation that may affect the academic performance of a student. Cultural attachés play a role in supporting students when they are sick or when a member of their family dies. But the absence of a supervisory role might cause the psychological or social circumstances of students to go unnoticed. Saudi students abroad do not only need financial help and academic supervision, they also need to feel that they are secure and that someone will catch them when they fall. Lectures and symposiums will not help protect our young men from extremist ideas and ideologies. The problems students face in their daily lives abroad are no less important than the academic problems they face. Students need to feel that their home country will protect them wherever they go.
