Islamic State Schools Teach Kids How To Chop Heads (WARNING: VERY GRAPHIC VIDEO)

After the Islamic State seized large parts of Syria and Iraq, the militant group took over the secular education system and left families with no choice except to send their children to IS religious schools or have no education at all.

Among the lessons taught at such schools is how to behead captives, reports the Wall Street Journal.

Boys as young as eight are taught the proper way to chop heads, which a 17-year-old Syrian who joined the IS in 2013 described as similar to learning how to chop an onion. The technique is to grab the victim by the forehead and then slowly slice across the neck, the young recruit said.

And the lessons aren't theoretical but with hands-on training. The Syrian recruit recalls that for one session, the teacher came with three Syrian soldiers who were made to kneel before being beheaded. The severed heads were then passed around the IS students, which explains why images of young trainees holding decapitated heads are showing up in social media sites.

YouTube/BleedingSYR

In religious schools in Aleppo and Deir Ezzour, which are Syrian provinces, religious studies, which have been designed to recruit boys to fight, replaced the subject chemistry.

Parents have expressed concern that their sons would be indoctrinated by the IS and become extremists since some schools push the male students to behead all males they would encounter from a Syrian tribe in Deir Ezzour who are aged 14 to 45.

Students who couldn't stomach the brutality taught to them and defect are threatened with death. Some of them have nightmares after being sent to frontlines, while a few lost their memories.

Unfortunately, in some cases, it is the families - out of extreme poverty - that push their sons to attend training camp because the parents would be paid $150 a month.

In June, Human Rights Watch criticised the IS and the Free Syrian Army for recruiting Syrian children in their ranks under the disguise of offering them education.

It is similar to the recruitment methods in the 1980s and 1990s of the Mujaheddin and Taliban among Afghan youth who are now part of the Taliban fighters.

IS recruits undergo first a 45-day Sharia course then have a 15-day military and explosives training in Deir Ezzour. Their typical day during the 45 days begins with prayer, followed by Islamic law study, breakfast, sports and training on the use of guns and mortar.

The 15-day training prepares them to become soldiers, guards in military camps and bodyguards for officials. The stupid students end up becoming suicide bombers.

To contact the writer, email: v.hernandez@ibtimes.com.au