Promoting moderatism, countering radicalism: Religious discourse of high school students in Malang

This article aims to map the religious discourse of high school (SMA) students in Malang. This mapping is important considering the strong contestation of religious ideology in educational institutions in recent years. The spread of radical ideology is massive and systematic, especially in students. This study explores the views of students and religious discourse circulating in the school environment with qualitative methods through in-depth interviews, observations and Focused Group Discussions (FGD) in 3 State Senior High Schools (SMAN). Students are aware of the infiltration of radicalism in schools through various modes and media. They are able to identify and classify religious views and discourses based on their respective rationalities and modalities. Although there are few students who agree with the vision and mission of radical understanding. However, in general, students with various religious identities counter radical ideology. Instead, they propagate religious moderation through actions and activities both intra- and extracurricular.