George Washington once said “To be prepared for war is one of the most effective means of preserving peace. However, it’s been noted over time that readiness for war doesn’t necessarily equate to a peaceful aftermath especially if those affected are children. Research has shown that, several aversive effects of war may lead to severe physical and psychological effects on people’s childhood. This is why “anyone who wishes to fight must first count the cost,”(Giles 35). When children at a young age are exposed to prolonged and long-term stressors, which may threaten their lives, cause them severe physical injuries or act as an obstacle to them accessing the required social support, it puts them in a stressful and traumatic situation. War exposes …show more content…
Exposure to war at a young age colors the child’s mind with a particular shade. Making them have maladaptive thoughts about how the world is and what it ought to be like. the children may end up knowing that violence is the key to getting what one wants, or that solutions are to their problems are solved through violence. However like Einstein said, “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” Regression is another psychological effect of war on children, its example is mostly witnessed in older kids where they may go back to some childhood behavior that are below their cognitive abilities as a result of the memories from the traumatic war experiences(Shaw 246). Examples of these regressive behaviors may include; thumb sucking or …show more content…
It tampers with their life skills for example, when it comes to personal relationship with peers, new people or other family members. An example of how relationships can be affected is that of a child called Marula who was abducted by RENAMO troops in Mozambique and became a child soldier. He had to forcefully kill his father, which psychologically affected him, and he became a violent aggressive soldier. Upon his release from the troop, he was unable to form healthy relationships with other people. His uncle also refused to accommodate him because he could not forgive him for killing his
As Garbarino recognizes, the effects of war and such violence is something that sticks with a child and remains constant in their everyday lives. The experiences that children face involving war in their communities and countries are traumatic and long lasting. It not only alters their childhood perspectives, but it also changes their reactions to violence over time. Sadly, children are beginning to play more of a major role in wars in both the United States and other countries.... ...
War has been a consistent piece of mankind 's history. It has significantly influenced the lives of individuals around the globe. The impacts are amazingly adverse. In the novel, “The Wars,” by Timothy Findley, Soldiers must shoulder compelling weight on the warzone. Such weight is both family and the country weight. Many individuals look at soldiers for hop and therefore, adding load to them. Those that cannot rationally beat these difficulties may create Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Tragically, some resort to suicide to get away from their insecurities. Troops, notwithstanding, are not by any means the only ones influenced by wars; relatives likewise encounter mental hardships when their friends and family are sent to war. Timothy Findley
There you stand over the body of a fallen friend, a brother or sister in arms. You are asking yourself why them, why not you? What could have I done to save them? That is when you wake up, sweating, panting. It was just a night terror, yet it feels the same as the day they died, even though it has been ten years. This is just one of the many emotional scars soldiers of war face. Though why do we go to war when this is the cost? For many it is because they are unaware of the psychological cost of war, they are only aware of the monetary cost. Tim O 'Brien addresses the true cost of war in The Things They Carried. O 'Brien suggests that psychological trauma caused by war impedes daily life in young Americans drafted into the Vietnam war. He does
Wells, Karen C.. "Children and youth at war." Childhood in a global perspective. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press, 2009. 152. Print.
...manifest developmental, behavioral, and emotional problems. This implies the interpersonal nature of trauma and may explain the influence of veteran Posttraumatic Stress Disorder on the child’s development and eventual, long-term and long-lasting consequences for the child’s personality. (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2525831).
War always seems to have no end. A war between countries can cross the world, whether it is considered a world war or not. No one can be saved from the reaches of a violent war, not even those locked in a safe haven. War looms over all who recognize it. For some, knowing the war will be their future provides a reason for living, but for others the war represents the snatching of their lives without their consent. Every reaction to war in A Separate Peace is different, as in life. In the novel, about boys coming of age during World War II, John Knowles uses character development, negative diction, and setting to argue that war forever changes the way we see the world and forces us to mature rapidly.
In Khaled Hosseini’s novel titled “A Thousand Splendid Suns”, the concept of man’s inhumanity to man describes the ways that war has a ripple effect, such that any inhumanity carried out has consequences for many more people than are involved in that act. One can clearly see that war leads to destruction during different regimes in Afghanistan. The destructive effects of war can be seen in the death of so many people. It leads to the suffering of the younger generation and it demolishes the infrastructure of the country.
War has been a constant part of human history. It has greatly affected the lives of people around the world. These effects, however, are extremely detrimental. Soldiers must shoulder extreme stress on the battlefield. Those that cannot mentally overcome these challenges may develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Sadly, some resort to suicide to escape their insecurities. Soldiers, however, are not the only ones affected by wars; family members also experience mental hardships when their loved ones are sent to war. Timothy Findley accurately portrays the detrimental effects wars have on individuals in his masterpiece The Wars.
Bracken, Patrick and Celia Petty (editors). Rethinking the Trauma of War. New York, NY: Save the Children Fund, Free Association Books, Ltd, 1998.
War affects every aspect of a child 's development. Children affected by armed conflict can be injured or killed, uprooted from their homes and communities, internally displaced or refugees, orphaned or separated from their parents and families, subjected to sexual abuse and exploitation, victims of trauma as a result of being exposed to violence, deprived of education and recreation, at risk of becoming child soldiers (unknown
Throughout the world children younger than 18 are being enlisted into the armed forces to fight while suffering through multiple abuses from their commanders. Children living in areas and countries that are at war are seemingly always the ones being recruited into the armed forces. These children are said to be fighting in about 75 percent of the world’s conflicts with most being 14 years or younger (Singer 2). In 30 countries around the world, the number of boys and girls under the age of 18 fighting as soldiers in government and opposition armed forces is said to be around 300,000 (“Child Soldiers: An Overview” 1). These statistics are clearly devastating and can be difficult to comprehend, since the number of child soldiers around the world should be zero. Furthermore, hundreds of thousands adolescent children are being or have been recruited into paramilitaries, militias and non-state groups in more than 85 countries (“Child Soldiers: An Overview” 1). This information is also quite overwhelming. Child soldiers are used around the world, but in some areas, the numbers are more concentrated.
These are the words of a 15-year-old girl in Uganda. Like her, there are an estimated 300,000 children under the age of eighteen who are serving as child soldiers in about thirty-six conflict zones (Shaikh). Life on the front lines often brings children face to face with the horrors of war. Too many children have personally experienced or witnessed physical violence, including executions, death squad killings, disappearances, torture, arrest, sexual abuse, bombings, forced displacement, destruction of home, and massacres. Over the past ten years, more than two million children have been killed, five million disabled, twelve million left homeless, one million orphaned or separated from their parents, and ten million psychologically traumatized (Unicef, “Children in War”). They have been robbed of their childhood and forced to become part of unwanted conflicts. In African countries, such as Chad, this problem is increasingly becoming a global issue that needs to be solved immediately. However, there are other countries, such as Sierra Leone, where the problem has been effectively resolved. Although the use of child soldiers will never completely diminish, it has been proven in Sierra Leone that Unicef's disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration program will lessen the amount of child soldiers in Chad and prevent their use in the future.
I was trapped in a valley with one entrance and exit. Constant explosions from rockets and mortars worked at intervals like seconds on a clock. It was our tempo, our metronome for counter violence. This was a good day. We came back to base after our encounter, whole bodied and adrenaline fueled, preparing for the next visit from the horrors of war. This was our world and we had only been there for a few months. The indigenous forces had been there for years, frozen in a state of chaos. War was in their blood and culture. Many years of foreign invasion and inter-tribal war had turned violence into the norm of Kunar Province, Afghanistan. Afghanistan is a prime example of the negative aspects of war. A fundamentalist background and nomadic tribe system has left the country without stability for decades, and fighting is the only constant that the Afghani people truly know. It’s very easy to dismiss the prospect of war when given examples such as Afghanistan. But, as much of a failed venture that the War in Afghanistan has become, war still has an important role in society. Many individuals and societies see war as a last viable option, and I tend to agree, but war is still an option worth considering because of the positive outcomes it can have, for example: economic and technological growth, equality for oppressed individuals, and checks and balances of world powers. When all diplomatic opportunities have ceased, sometimes the only way to stop an evil regime is to use force.
War has always been something to be dreaded by people since nothing good comes from it. War affects people of all ages, cultures, races and religion. It brings change, destruction and death and these affect people to great extents. “Every day as a result of war and conflict thousands of civilians are killed, and more than half of these victims are children” (Graca & Salgado, 81). War is hard on each and every affected person, but the most affected are the children.
War has been around for centuries. From the time modern civilizations began, war has played an integral part in human history. It shaped the world into the modern world we live in. War has been said to be a great motivator, for example, the Great Wall of China was built to fend off the attackers from the north. However, the negative aspects of war far outweighs any positive effects it might have. The destruction of civilizations, cities and countries, mass killings of men, woman and children alike, the disastrous effect it has on economy and the after effects of war can last for centuries.