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What could have made a nine-year old boy declare support for ISIS is still surprising. A nine-year-old schoolboy stood up in class and told fellow pupils that he supported ISIS after he watched disturbing beheading videos online.
Now aged 10, and lives in London, the boy became radicalised after hearing about the Paris attacks and searching for more information online.
He visited the BBC's news website and watched a Channel Four documentary but soon realised that the further he trawled through the search results, the more graphic the content.
The youngster, identified only as Haaruun, ended up watching beheading videos, clips of ISIS burning prisoners alive and slick propaganda films released by the terror group.
He told the BBC: 'It led me to this one that had brutal executions and them burning people. It just showed them lighting them on fire. The people chained up, lighting them on fire and then they burned them.'
'The men were walking with their hands behind their back. Then they were hit and told to sit down. Then they cut their heads off.'
This disturbing viewing, combined with the fact he was experiencing bullying at his school, led to his declaration in front of his primary school class just over a year ago.
BBC Radio 4's chief correspondent, Matthew Price, met the child after the incident was reported to child services, who in turn referred him to the government's controversial Prevent programme which found he was at risk from radicalisation.
The Prevent programme has been set up to de-radicalise at-risk individuals.
Mr Price said: 'He [Haaruun] became so wrapped up and fixated with this and the bullying, and in the end he declared his support for so-called Islamic State.'
The BBC reports that the schoolboy's mother had tried to deal with the issue, but he managed to evade her attempts at stopping him viewing the disturbing images.
Now aged 10, and lives in London, the boy became radicalised after hearing about the Paris attacks and searching for more information online.
He visited the BBC's news website and watched a Channel Four documentary but soon realised that the further he trawled through the search results, the more graphic the content.
The youngster, identified only as Haaruun, ended up watching beheading videos, clips of ISIS burning prisoners alive and slick propaganda films released by the terror group.
He told the BBC: 'It led me to this one that had brutal executions and them burning people. It just showed them lighting them on fire. The people chained up, lighting them on fire and then they burned them.'
'The men were walking with their hands behind their back. Then they were hit and told to sit down. Then they cut their heads off.'
This disturbing viewing, combined with the fact he was experiencing bullying at his school, led to his declaration in front of his primary school class just over a year ago.
BBC Radio 4's chief correspondent, Matthew Price, met the child after the incident was reported to child services, who in turn referred him to the government's controversial Prevent programme which found he was at risk from radicalisation.
The Prevent programme has been set up to de-radicalise at-risk individuals.
Mr Price said: 'He [Haaruun] became so wrapped up and fixated with this and the bullying, and in the end he declared his support for so-called Islamic State.'
The BBC reports that the schoolboy's mother had tried to deal with the issue, but he managed to evade her attempts at stopping him viewing the disturbing images.