The Phenomenon of Child Soldiers

1767 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Cultural imperialism in Africa

“I am pushing a rusty wheelbarrow in a town where the air smells of blood and burnt flesh. The breeze brings the faint cries of those whose last breaths are leaving their mangled bodies. I walk past them”, declares Ishmael Beah as he recollects his dark past (Beah 18). A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier was the story of Ishmael Beah, as he was a child during the Sierra Leone civil war (Beah 1). Ishmael Beah wrote the tremendous story that was published in 2007 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Beah 1). Child soldiers are an awful military tactic that the United States luckily has not experienced much in the past; however, many nations use child soldiers including nations in Africa (Denov and Maclure 244). The violent memories and living habits these children develop and have experienced are disturbing and traumatizing (Beah 14). The use of child soldiers can destroy the children’s futures physically and physiologically; furthermore, child soldiers needs to be extinguished from today’s world (Beah 14).
Child soldiers have been used amongst the whole world; however, they have heavily been used throughout the continent of Africa (Denov and Maclure 244). Sierra Leone, located in Africa, has been a prime example of the use of child soldiers throughout their civil war, which spanned from 1991-2002 (Beah 1). Ishmael Beah was one of the many children who have actually been a child soldier (Beah 1). The concept of a child soldiers is when a country or organization use children during an act of violence (Young 19). The use of children as soldiers happens for multiple reasons. The most common reason children are chosen is a lack of men to fight the opposing side (Denov and Maclure 244). They simply are used because strength comes in numb...

... middle of paper ...

...-481e-b3f7-260d21a423c8%40sessionmgr110&hid=104&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=eric&AN=EJ832069>.
“Sudan.” Child Soldiers Global Reports. 2008. PDF. 5 May 2014
Wolfson, Lara J., et al. "Estimating The Costs Of Achieving The WHO-UNICEF Global Immunization Vision And Strategy, 2006-2015." Bulletin of The World Health Organization 86.1 (2008): 27-39. Academic Search Complete. Web. 6 May 2014 .
Young, Aaron. “Preventing, Demobilizing,Rehabilitating and Reintegrating Child Soldiers in African Conflicts.” The Journal of International Policy Solutions.2007. PDF. 5 May 2014.

Show More
Related

  • A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah

    1691 Words  | 4 Pages

    Ishmael Beah’s memoir, A Long Way Gone, narrates the story of Ishmael’s life as a child soldier in the Sierra Leonean civil war. Ishmael chronicles his journey from a scared, adrift child who lost his family in the war to a brutal child soldier who mercilessly killed many individuals to a guilt stricken rehabilitated teen who slowly learns to overcome his remorse from his past actions. Ishmael’s life as a child soldier first started when the Sierra Leonean army took him and his friends with them to the village, Yele, occupied by army officials and seemingly safe from the rebels. Unfortunately, within a few weeks of their stay, the rebels attacked Yele, and Ishmael and his friends decided to make the choice of becoming a child soldier in order to sustain their slim chances of staying alive. Ishmael’s interaction with violence was very different as a child soldier compared to as a civilian: while he witnessed violent actions before, as a child soldier he was committing them. As his life as a soldier demanded more violence from him, Ishmael sank deeper into the process of dehumanization with his main driving point being the revenge that he sought from the rebels for the deaths of his family and friends. After a few months as a child soldier, Ishmael was brought to the Benin home by UNICEF officials who hoped to rehabilitate the completely dehumanized child soldiers. With the help of Esther, a compassionate nurse, and other staff members in the center, Ishmael was able to ultimately reverse the effects of the war on him. By forgiving himself and the rebels who took away his close ones from him, Ishmael was able to restore his emotion of empathy and become rehabilitated.

    Read More

  • Ishmael Beah's Recovery

    786 Words  | 2 Pages

    This psychological memoir is written from the eyes of Ishmael Beah and it describes his life through the war and through his recovery. War is one of the most horrific things that could ever happen to anyone. Unwilling young boy soldiers, innocent mothers and children are all affected. In most instances, the media or government does not show the horrific parts of war, instead they focus on the good things that happen to make the people happy and not cause political issues. In his book A Long Way Gone, Ishmael Beah dispels the romanticism around war through the loss of childhood innocence, the long road of emotional recovery and the mental and physical effects of war.

    Read More

  • Sierra Leone's Revolutionary United Front

    860 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Child Soldiers Global Report 2001- Sierra Leone.” refworld. Child Soldiers International, 2001. Web. 4 Dec. 2013.

    Read More

  • Globalization Increases Child Soldiery

    2629 Words  | 6 Pages

    Since the end of the Cold War, the recruitment of child soldiers has been recognized as an increasingly global phenomenon. Although the majority of the relatively recent child soldier recruitment cases have developed from armed conflicts in Africa, by the beginning of the new millennium the trend increased globally, appearing on nearly every continent, including Asia, Europe and the Americas. The prevalence of this practice has turned it into a much talked about international issue. The aim of this paper is to look at how this issue is influenced and even aggravated by globalization. More specifically, it will be argued that globalization, expressed through the existence of international organizations, such as the United Nations, have been ineffective in putting a stop to child soldiery and that globalization, defined by the interconnectedness of world economies has lead to underdevelopment and therefore exasperated conflict and as a result child soldiery.

    Read More

  • Impact of War and Violence on Children in A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah

    1473 Words  | 3 Pages

    Children exposed to violence within their communities are left with emotions of hopelessness, insecurity, and doubt. Historical events such as the war on terrorism, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the tragic events of September 11th have had a detrimental effect on the entire nation, including the children. Although every child is not directly affected by the effects of war, it somehow has an emotional effect on all. The involvement of a nation in war affects every individual differently, whether it is out of fear, anger, doubt, hope, or love. In the short novel A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah, he narrates the story by telling his own involvement in the Civil War in Sierra Leone as a young boy and the many issues he faces while living in horror.

    Read More

  • The Military Use Of Child Soldiers In Lewis Carroll's Alice In Wonderland

    1596 Words  | 4 Pages

    There is no exact known number of children currently being utilised in warfare worldwide. The issue of the military use of children is so widespread that no figure can be calculated, although it is estimated that there are currently over 250,000 child soldiers across the world. Many are drugged and brainwashed into murder, many are forced to sever all ties with their family or watch them die. Most are faced with a simple choice: kill or be killed. Although the notion of child soldiers is vastly alien to contemporary Australian society, it is a reality in many parts of the world.

    Read More

  • The Effects of War on Child Soldiers in Sierra Leone

    2374 Words  | 5 Pages

    Zack-Williams, A.B. (2001). Child Soldiers in the Civil War in Sierra Leone. Review of African Political Economy, 28 (87), 73–82.

    Read More

  • Social Reproduction in Society

    1000 Words  | 2 Pages

    Wells, Karen C.. "Children and youth at war." Childhood in a global perspective. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press, 2009. 152. Print.

    Read More

  • Born into Brothels a Documentary by Zana Briski

    1192 Words  | 3 Pages

    Wells, Karen C.. "Children and youth at war." Childhood in a global perspective. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press, 2009. 152. Print.

    Read More

  • Child Soldiers in Africa

    803 Words  | 2 Pages

    Child soldier is a worldwide issue, but it became most critical in the Africa. Child soldiers are any children under the age of 18 who are recruited by some rebel groups and used as fighters, cooks, messengers, human shields and suicide bombers, some of them even under the aged 10 when they are forced to serve. Physically vulnerable and easily intimidated, children typically make obedient soldiers. Most of them are abducted or recruited by force, and often compelled to follow orders under threat of death. As society breaks down during conflict, leaving children no access to school, driving them from their homes, or separating them from family members, many children feel that rebel groups become their best chance for survival. Others seek escape from poverty or join military forces to avenge family members who have been killed by the war. Sometimes they even forced to commit atrocities against their own family (britjob p 4 ). The horrible and tragic fate of many unfortunate children is set on path of war murders and suffering, more nations should help to prevent these tragedies and to help stop the suffering of these poor, unfortunate an innocent children.

    Read More

  • Child Soldiers

    2240 Words  | 5 Pages

    Though the use of child soldiers is a global concern, the highest numbers have been reported mainly in Africa and Asi...

    Read More

  • Child Soldiers In A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah

    1105 Words  | 3 Pages

    Capturing children and turning them into child soldiers is an increasing epidemic in Sierra Leone. Ishmael Beah, author of the memoir A Long Way Gone, speaks of his time as a child soldier. Beah was born in Sierra Leone and at only thirteen years old he was captured by the national army and turned into a “vicious soldier.” (Beah, Bio Ref Bank) During the time of Beah’s childhood, a civil war had erupted between a rebel group known as the Revolutionary United Front and the corrupt Sierra Leone government. It was during this time when the recruitment of child soldiers began in the war. Ishmael Beah recalls that when he was only twelve years old his parents and two brothers were killed by the rebel group and he fled his village. While he and his friends were on a journey for a period of months, Beah was captured by the Sierra Leonean Army. The army brainwashed him, as well as other children, with “various drugs that included amphetamines, marijuana, and brown brown.” (Beah, Bio Ref Bank) The child soldiers were taught to fight viciously and the effects of the drugs forced them to carry out kill orders. Beah was released from the army after three years of fighting and dozens of murders. Ishmael Beah’s memoir of his time as a child soldier expresses the deep struggle between his survival and any gleam of hope for the future.

    Read More

  • Manipulation Of Child Soldiers In A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah

    899 Words  | 2 Pages

    In A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah, Beah tells of his past in Sierra Leone as a boy soldier. As a child in the war, Beah and his fellow soldiers committed many acts of violence, including murder. This raises the question as to whether or not child soldiers should be held accountable for their actions. The answer to this question is no, they should not be, because as children, they are easier to manipulate, and their minds have become addled by exposure to drug use and sleep deprivation. After becoming a soldier, Beah describes how his lieutenant would attempt to subtly manipulate him and his fellow soldiers into following orders without a second thought.

    Read More

  • Child Soldiers In South Sudan

    1449 Words  | 3 Pages

    South Sudan gained its independence as one of the most fragile and underdeveloped countries in the world and failed to invest in adequate education for its people. “Children have been pulled out of school and the UN estimates there are at least 9,000 child soldiers that have been recruited into the current conflict on both sides.” (Freccia, 2014) South Sudan is one poorest countries in the world. A crisis fueled by years of chronic underdevelopment and decades of fighting have been devastating on the population of South Sudan to include: One in seven women die in childbirth, eighty-four percent of women are illiterate, half the population has no access to improved sources of drinking water, one in nine children will not live to see their fifth

    Read More

  • United Nations Children's Fund

    1059 Words  | 3 Pages

    Management at The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) must have a strategic plan which serves as the framework to build “A World Fit for Children.”(UNICEF [UNICEF], 1998) To plan strategically management must take into account UNCEF vision and mission and there strengths, weakness and threats to accomplish their goals.(World Health Organization [WHO], 2003, 1) An example of this is UNICEF working with all those who share their commitment to the rights of every child. Organizations such as World Health Organization (WHO) who have been working with UNICEF on a strategy to fight vaccine-preventable diseases called The Global Immunization Vision and Strategy (GIVS) goal is to fight vaccine-preventable diseases, which kill more than two million people every year, two thirds of those killed are children. WHO and UNICEF will assist governments in designing, financing and implementing national immunization programs while also taking into account ethics involving culture and religious beliefs of those who do not believe in immunizations.

    Read More

More about The Phenomenon of Child Soldiers

Open Document