## Indicators

Changes in a student’s behaviour will also be visible at school. We call these changes ‘indicators’. The first indicator is an obvious one: is the student falling behind? An unusual deviation from the norm could be an indicator. In 99.9% of cases there will be no cause for concern, but it is a good idea to talk to the student.

So, an indicator is a piece of the puzzle. And it can manifest itself in many different ways: the student is withdrawn, reads radical material, is interested in weapons or suddenly expresses himself in more extreme ways than usual.

You might identify only one of these indicators in your contact with a student. Taken separately, the indicators are perhaps innocuous, but if you had the complete picture, you might understand why you had a gut feeling about that student.

#### Overview

Indicators can manifest themselves in many different areas. There are no checklists that can predict with certainty that someone is radicalising, suicidal or intends to use violence against others. However, knowing what the indicators are can help you decide whether to act on your gut feeling and talk to the student or consult colleagues. Click on the image on the right for an overview of the most frequent indicators of alarming behaviour.

#### Cases

As an exercise, we present here two true stories involving two very different students. By clicking on the arrows you can see each of the indicators that various parties identified independently of one other. Decide for yourself what combination of indicators would have led you to talk to the students in each case.

#### Next step

How do you distinguish between a student who is simply having an off-day and a student who is displaying genuinely alarming behaviour? When should you start to worry, and above all, what should you do?