“Tens of thousands of children are estimated to be recruited and used by armed groups. In 2019 alone, more than 7,740 children, some as young as six, were recruited and used as soldiers around the world, according to the United Nations. Most are recruited by non-state groups.” (Wuilbercq). There are more than seven thousand forty children that were child soldiers in twenty nineteen alone. Many of these children passed away while being in the war but the ones that didn’t could be suffering from PTSD, Drug addiction, and more. Child soldiers are used around the world, from ages seven and up. Many child soldiers after being in war suffer from psychological trauma like PTSD, drug addiction, and physical trauma. History has proven that the use of …show more content…
In the memoir, A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah, Ishmael became a child soldier at the age of twelve, after three years of being in the war Ishmael was discharged from the war and went into rehabilitation. Ishmael was showing signs of PTSD for a long time. In this passage, Beah is showing signs of PTSD by saying “I was afraid to fall asleep, but staying awake also brought back painful memories. Memories I sometimes wish I could wash away, even though I am aware that they are an important of what my life is; who I am now. “ (Beah 19). Typically when people have PTSD they have nightmares, and flashbacks. Ishmael is showing signs of both of these which shows he has PTSD. PTSD can affect people in many ways. Ishmael is showing signs of PTSD so early on in the book by the things he's experienced and seen. With the PTSD he is facing he can’t sleep. Child soldiers experience PTSD in many ways leaving them with this trauma for the rest of their lives. Some may not recover from this mental trauma which can leave them with other mental issues. Children should never have to experience war at such a young age. By banning child soldiers more children can have a childhood without having to have trauma from any war. Children should not have to have PTSD at such a young age and especially by war. Banning child soldiers can help thousands of children around the war from experiencing psychological trauma such as
The Effects On Child Soldiers In the book, A Long Way Gone, it said, “‘Bullet wounds,’ I casually replied” (Beah 154). In the book, Beah is so mentally changed that getting shot is not even a big deal to him anymore. Most child soldiers just like him have been desensitized to these kinds of problems. Using children in war can cause them a countless amount of mental and physical pain as Beah describes in his book
For child war victims like Sourdi, who lived in a war zone until she was nine years old, it is a wonder if there can ever be an end to the war. The trauma that children endure in a war zone is enough to last a lifetime. Not only are they
“There were more than thirty boys there, two of whom, Sheku and Josiah, were seven and eleven years old” (Beah 109). These were babies fighting for their lives, being dosed up with all kinds of drugs. Even Ishmael, he was recruited at the age of 13. Not only did this war affect child soldiers but the other kids that had no protection. “One of the main aims of the rebels, when they took over a town, was to force civilians to stay with them, especially women and children”( Beah 24).
Soldiers suffered from trauma they witnessed and from posttraumatic stress disorder. It has a tremendous impact on soldier’s lives something they can never change or forget. Many young men are often drafted in to war although they opposed it. This should not be the case people should not be forced to go to war against their will.
In the world today, there is more than 25 countries who still actively use children in warfare. Child soldiers are human beings under the age of 18 who participate in military actions. They are evidently cheaper to maintain and to train than adult soldiers. They are also more loyal and obedient because the young respect their elders. It has been noted that estimately, 300 thousand children were recruited to fight and perform in war (Child Soldiers.)
Many of the child soldiers who were able to leave the war had a tremendous amount of problems. “But at night some of us would wake up from nightmares, sweating, screaming, and punching our own heads to drive out the images that continued to torment us even when we were no longer asleep.” (148) The child soldiers who were rescued and sent to one of the rehabilitation centers still had the same mentality. They were still addicted to drugs, and to killing.
Child soldiers have been a major issue in countries all over the world for a very long time. For example, Afghanistan is recruiting children to become a part of the Taliban, one of the largest terrorist groups in the country. A theme presented by Ishmael Beah in the book A Long Way Gone: memoirs of a boy soldier is that when all is lost, there is always hope. He went through brutal drugs and a dark childhood while he was in a civil war but he still was able to push through it and find happiness.
Ishmael has a flashback of his life in the war. In his dream he encounters a body wrapped in white bed sheets, and as he unwraps it he realizes it is his own face he is looking at. He then awakens, sweating and on the ground. He says, “I was afraid to fall asleep, but staying awake also brought back painful memories” (Beah 19). Even being in a different country cannot take away the hell that Ishmael has been through.
Child soldiers are put through more trauma therefore they have a higher percent of kids with mental health issues. All child soldiers go through something shocking, so they have a higher risk of PTSD depending on the severity of the event. To finish off child soldiers should be abolished, for it causes more PTSD in
An estimated 300,000 children are forced to become soldiers every day all around the world and will be forced to grow up in a war environment. Many teens in African countries have been fighting in the war since the 90s. These children were forced to fight in the war to survive not being killed by a higher power. An estimated 40% of child soldiers are active in Africa. There is a big risk involved with a post-conflict society.
In the memoir, A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah the child soldiers are being mentally and physically abused at too young of an age. Ishmael Beah describes this by saying “We walked for long hours and stopped only to eat sardines and corned beef with gari, sniff cocaine, brown brown, and take some white capsules. The combination of these drugs gave us a lot of energy and made us fierce.” (Beah 122). Generally, young kids should not be exposed to drugs and forced to do them.
Many young children under aged have been taken in by the government. They are being held captive tell they are drugged enough and brainwashed to go out and kill or to be killed. They are forced to train to kill under the influence of drugs and they are hardly aware of what they or doing. Child soldiers should be given amnesty because of the absents of their minds and them not being able to process what they are doing. These children are often seen as targets because they are under aged and not able to take responsibility for their actions so they are targeted to be able to kill without punishment.
Child soldiers are captured by abuse, and life threatening situations. These situations can lead to a high population of death and withdrawals of fear. Child soldiers are forced into these situations with the threat of death due to denying serving. Life threatening situations are everyday events that happen while you are a child soldier and cause effects on children that should not be acceptable in everyday life. History has proven that the use of child soldiers should be banned internationally because soldiers are around drugs and drug abuse.
There are thousands of child soldiers in the world today. These children are stripped from their homes and sent to fight with people twice their age. Many haven’t even had their 11th birthday yet. Although some people say that child soldiers should not be granted amnesty, evidence shows that these children do deserve amnesty, except in cases when the former soldiers show violent behavior after war because children are forced to commit acts of violence and are force addicted to illegal substances so they won’t want to leave.
Assignment page Video Where many children all over the world merrily and freely live under the protection of the law, for others, this is a distant reality, they live in a world where they’re battling poverty, stripped of their childhood and basic human rights are expunged, they’re the innocent victims of conflict, and war is made to seem their one and only duty, not to mention that these are children no more than 10 years of age. They are put into a situation where it’s to kill or be killed. The United Nations defines a child soldier as, “Any person under 18 years of age who is part of any kind of regular or irregular armed force or armed group in any capacity.” Since the past 15 years, child soldiers are being used in almost every region of the world. Unlike most children, who go to school, they’re abducted from their families and forced into becoming a child soldier, where living conditions are beyond imaginable.