(National-UAE) When a phone rings at a former screw factory in Vienna’s old Jewish quarter, it could be a confused teenager, a hapless teacher — or a chance to stop a terrorist.
Austria’s extremism hotline fields hundreds of calls a year from people worried that a child, pupil or a young person they know is turning radical.
Many cases turn out to be harmless, says youth worker Werner Prinzjakowitsch, a former committee member at the counselling centre.
Teachers sometimes ring up about teenage Muslim girls who start wearing a headscarf. They are assured there is no need to worry.
In some cases, radical talk proves to be no more than teenagers acting up, trying to shock their parents or teachers.
But more and more youngsters are being caught up in real extremism.
