On Wednesday, Sept. 30, two marketing students from the University of New Hampshire, – Kelly McIntyre and Brooke Poulin – paid a visit to Nashua High School South for research to supplement their senior marketing project.

Pax Marketing – comprising Poulin, McIntyre and 10 others – is looking for a way to raise awareness of the Middle Eastern terrorist group ISIS in young people. After collecting their data, they hope to get funding from the Department of State to start their campaign.

The presentation, held in the NHSS lecture hall, started with a few short but disturbing videos depicting how ISIS gains its members by targeting young people on social media. Following the videos, McIntyre opened the room to a discussion led by a few questions.

After McIntyre posed the question, "Have you or any of your friends been invited or contacted to join violent extremist groups?" she was met with a room of blank stares.

"I’ve been followed (on social media) by Middle Easterners, but I don’t think they’re terrorists," offered an NHSS junior in an attempt to break the silence.

However, that does not mean it is not happening throughout other parts of the country. In McIntyre’s presentation, she included the statistic that more than 150 United States citizens have been caught attempting to emigrate to the Middle East with plans of joining ISIS.

Many of the Westerners who have considered joining ISIS, like the three Colorado high-schoolers caught leaving the U.S. in October 2014, are from the Middle East or close to Middle Eastern descent.

According to U.S. News & World Report, 72 percent of NHSS students are white. With such a prominent white population, it is unlikely that any of the school’s students have been contacted by ISIS.

Taking to social media to recruit teens, terrorist groups are the next generation of online predators. According to James Gaj, a NHSS contemporary global studies teacher, terrorists target the vulnerable through social media. The groups do this by sharing elaborate propaganda videos, promising safety and even brainwashing teens by highlighting some of the mistakes the U.S has made.

A New York Times publication from June, "ISIS and the Lonely Young American," highlights the story of Alex, a 23-year old Sunday school teacher from rural Washington state. Realizing that Alex was lonely and longed for belonging, a Muslim man persuaded Alex into converting to Islam through Skype and Twitter conversations.

Alex received bribes from the man in the form of chocolates and scarves. He even bought Alex a plane ticket out of the country. Alex’s grandmother eventually found out about the relationship, forcing Alex to stop communication.

Gaj said many of those whom terrorists seek out are loners, like Alex, and feel oppressed by their government. "It gives (loners) a place to fight against The Man," Gaj said.

A 2011 study by the FBI shows that almost 70 percent of teens will accept friend requests whether they know who the sender is or not.

Although 34 states now have legislation regulating cyberbullying and cyber-safety, none of these directly address this new type of cyber offender.

Emma Fenlon is a senior at Nashua High School South.