When the word, “grooming”, is used in contemporary public discourse, it is almost exclusively invoked in connection with specific criminal networks—frequently involving men of Pakistani heritage—exploiting and abusing vulnerable children. The term carries a heavy, sinister weight, denoting the manipulation of a child’s trust for illicit purposes. However, if we strip the word of its narrowest modern application and look at its broader definition, grooming is fundamentally about preparation, cultivation, and conditioning. We groom beards in barber shops; we groom minds and livelihoods through education and mentorship, and, tragically, children can be groomed into adopting toxic worldviews, prejudices, and behaviours by the adults entrusted with their care. While intense public scrutiny rightly falls on specific forms of abuse, there exists another, largely hushed form of grooming happening in plain sight—one that rarely makes national headlines, yet has shaped the social reality of ...