The importance of school and victim testimonies in adolescents’ knowledge of terrorism: an assessment of public policies in Spain

Young Spaniards born after 2000 constitute the first generation in democratic Spain to receive secondary education on the country’s various forms of terrorism, most notably ETA violence. The Ministry of the Interior’s “Memory and Prevention of Terrorism” programme, the sole national initiative covering such educational efforts, is set to reach over 30,000 students by 2024. This article analyzes data from the first national survey on adolescents’ views on political violence, which was completed by over 1000 final-year secondary school students participating in the Memory and Prevention of Terrorism programme during the 2023/2024 academic year. We focus on the preliminary survey conducted before students received a victim’s testimony, aiming to understand their previous knowledge of terrorism; such an understanding is essential to assess the programme’s real impact. The results show that prior exposure to educational content or victim testimonies correlates with higher knowledge levels. These findings, in line with those of previous studies centred on the Basque Country and Navarre, highlight the role of schools as key spaces for transmitting democratic memory and non-violence education through victim-centred pedagogical approaches.