Islamic radicalism and the threat of young Somalis being lured to fight for extremist causes usually aren’t on the mind of Ilhan Dahir’s friends at Hilliard Bradley High School.

“If we talk about it, it’s in an intellectual way,” said the 18-year-old senior, herself of Somali descent.

But Dahir said that last night’s summit on preventing the cultivation of extremism in the Somali community was worthwhile.

Community leaders and youths attending the summit, in the Embassy Suites hotel on the Northeast Side, said that too many young Somalis here are falling into crime or dropping out of school, at risk of becoming alienated and perhaps enticed by the lure of extremist groups such as al-Shabab, which has taken over broad areas of Somalia and has ties to al-Qaida.

Education and work opportunities are crucial, they said. Some young people feel they’re in limbo between the American and Somali cultures, Dahir said.

So there’s work to do.

Neither Columbus nor other Ohio cities are havens for extremism, said Robert C. Glenn, the new executive director of Ohio’s homeland security office. But partnerships must be built between government agencies and the Somali community, he stressed.

Steve Walker, a former state refugee coordinator, said many Somali groups here discourage radicalization, from minority Bantus to the Somali community at large.

Because of that, concern here is slight, said Fred Bowditch, a retired Columbus police lieutenant who is a homeland security consultant for the city and Franklin County.

“It’s a tight group here,” he said. “They’re very concerned about their children.”

Mohamed Hassan, imam of Masjid Abu Hurairah, a mosque near Innis and Westerville roads, said he believes extremist recruitment is a low risk here.

When news broke three years ago that 20 young men of Somali descent had left Minnesota to fight for al-Shabab in Somalia, the Columbus community was stirred to action to try to make sure it didn’t happen here.

“It awakened everybody,” Hassan said.

He said some curious youths visit radicals’ websites, but he doesn’t believe they’ll be swayed to join extremist causes.

Still, religious leaders have to take the lead to fight radicalization, he said.

Columbus is home to the nation’s second-largest Somali community, behind the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.

Last night’s meeting was held as soccer tournaments featuring Somali teams are being held in Columbus this weekend. Somali leaders here and elsewhere hope sports and other activities can help keep Somali youths away from crime, drugs and other problems.

A similar youth summit was held in Minneapolis in January. Young people were concerned about racial profiling by law enforcement, and the topic of radicalization had been a big taboo, community organizer Hindia Ali said.

But afterward, 15 Somali youths decided to attend that city’s police citizenship academy to find out how police do their job. She said five Somalis are now on police forces in the metro area.

Columbus needs to have frank discussions about radicalization, said Abdirizak Farah, a U.S. Department of Homeland Security policy adviser who once worked for Columbus’ Community Relations Commission.

“We cannot take the security and safety of our country for granted,” Farah said.