Analysis: A Former Child Soldier

Ishmael was just 12 years old when his whole life changed in the blink of an eye. He became something he never expected to become at such a young age. Daily, he picked up an AK-47, and killed every single person on the opposing group. He had no home, no food, and no resources. He was isolated for a very long time. He walked miles and miles to hopefully find useful resources. Being a child soldier felt like an eternity for Ishmael. This is a worldwide epidemic. Children from South America, to Asia are being forcefully turned into soldiers. In fact, there are currently more than 300,000 child soldiers in the world. Though some children volunteer to become a soldier, a vast majority of children did not choose to become one. This subject is fiercely

For instance, in war-torn countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo, children are recruited without their knowledge. In other words, they were unknowingly abducted and could not fight back. According to the article, “A Former Child Soldier Shares His Story,” a young boy was kidnapped out of nowhere and turned into a soldier. His whole life changed in one instance. The article states, “Michel Chikwanine was 5 years old when rebel militiamen kidnapped him from a soccer field near his school in the Democratic Republic of Congo...Chikwanine’s life would quickly and irreconcilably change, however, as the militia abducted the boys and took them to its camp,” (Robins-Early, 2015). This demonstrates that it was not in any way the child’s choice to become a soldier at such a young a age. Chikwanine had no idea about what was occurring at the moment, or why he was being taken away. He was taken away and placed in a camp, which he had zero knowledge on. It was a setting he had no single clue about what it was, or why he was there. The only reason he was there was to become a ruthless soldier. It was not his decision to attend that camp, or to become a soldier. He was taken away. Additionally, the children that eventually became soldiers were threatened to do what they were commanded to do, or they would have experienced some fatal consequences. The vivid novel A Long Way Gone goes in depth of what Ishmael, a former child soldier, had to go through, and why he committed the crimes he did. Ishmael wrote, “My squad is my family, my gun is my provider, and protector, and my rule is to kill or be killed.” This makes it clear that child soldiers had to live by one rule when they were controlled by their commanders. If they didn’t do what they said, they would have been brutally executed. The child soldiers were forced to kill, even if they didn’t want to do it. They had no choice. It was