Experts in human development studies almost unanimously agree that childhood is the most critical and sensitive stage of human life. It is during this period that both conscious and unconscious awareness are formed. A widely accepted theory among human behavior researchers is summarized by the English philosopher Bertrand Russell, who stated, "People are not born foolish, but ignorant, and then they are made foolish." Regardless of how people are born as or what they become, the central issue is the existence of a process that shapes the mindset determining an individual’s behavior across various aspects of life, especially in the political arena.
In the world of politics, ideological organizations—religious or otherwise—deliberately build an ideologically-driven popular base that is resistant to logic as well as emotions. What distinguishes ideological organizations from non-ideological ones is that the former prefer "cultivating" their base rather than "attracting" it. It is easier and more secure to control a “cultivated” audience on the long-term than to manage an “attracted” or “polarized” one. This explains why these organizations focus on “cultivating” children and reshaping them in a way that serves the political agenda of the "cultivating" organization.
Following this pattern, Hezbollah has been shaping new generations of supporters in three primary spaces—schools, scouts, mosques and scholars (hawzat, plural of hawza), alongside the broader geographic area under its control. Despite the distinctiveness each of these spaces is presumed to have, they work in tandem to mold the new generations into the image Hezbollah desires.
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