Essays
Children as young as eight are being abducted and used as weapons of war in government forces or armed rebel groups. Both girls and boys are used as child soldiers to proceed the most horrifying horrors.
In Africa, Sierra Leone and Uganda, innocent children eighteen and under are being abducted and obligated in becoming soldiers. These child soldiers are given away by their families due to poverty and hunger, while others volunteer to avenge the death of their family members. The LRA (Lord Resistance Army, a rebel group in Uganda), the UNLF (The Uganda National Liberation Front) and many other groups are brainwashing children by using drugs, alcohol and sexual abuse in order to get the children to do anything that was ordered.
There are many youth all around the world suffering from torture. These children are being taken away from their families by many rebel groups and forced to do domestic chores, use drugs and alcohol, and obligated in committing acts of violence. It is been said that “More than half a million children have been abducted or forcibly conscripted into government forces or armed groups in 87 countries over the past decade”. Child soldiers are known to be male and female, and forcibly forced into roles such as porters, cooks, messengers, spies, human shields, sexual slaves or frontline combatants. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2662600/>. They are being abducted in Afghanistan, Angola, Burma, Iraq, Lebanon, Liberia, Mali, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan and the Former Yugoslavia but are most common in Afric Uganda and Sierra Leone. “Many are recruited to become soldiers if they are separated from their families, are poor, are displaced from their homes or are living in a combat zone”. <http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-55301260.html>. Children are being orphaned and removed from their communities due to political conflicts.
In Africa, Sierra Leone and Uganda, innocent children eighteen and under are being abducted and obligated in becoming soldiers. These child soldiers are given away by their families due to poverty and hunger, while others volunteer to avenge the death of their family members. The LRA (Lord Resistance Army, a rebel group in Uganda), the UNLF (The Uganda National Liberation Front) and many other groups are brainwashing children by using drugs, alcohol and sexual abuse in order to get the children to do anything that was ordered.
There are many youth all around the world suffering from torture. These children are being taken away from their families by many rebel groups and forced to do domestic chores, use drugs and alcohol, and obligated in committing acts of violence. It is been said that “More than half a million children have been abducted or forcibly conscripted into government forces or armed groups in 87 countries over the past decade”. Child soldiers are known to be male and female, and forcibly forced into roles such as porters, cooks, messengers, spies, human shields, sexual slaves or frontline combatants. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2662600/>. They are being abducted in Afghanistan, Angola, Burma, Iraq, Lebanon, Liberia, Mali, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan and the Former Yugoslavia but are most common in Afric Uganda and Sierra Leone. “Many are recruited to become soldiers if they are separated from their families, are poor, are displaced from their homes or are living in a combat zone”. <http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-55301260.html>. Children are being orphaned and removed from their communities due to political conflicts.
Bibliography: Child Soldiers Worldwide "High Hopes, Grim Reality: Reintegration and the Education of Former Child Soldiers in Sierra Leone." National Center for Biotechnology Information. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 May 2012. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2662600/>. This website contains a small description of what many children 18 and under go through in Sierra Leone for example(they are being taken away from their families by many rebel groups, forced to do domestic chores, use drugs and alcohol and obligated in committing acts of violence.) This will be used in body section one of my research essay, explaining where this issue is happening, who is being oppressed and what are the historical factors. Under the heading "Background Context" that i will also be using in body section one, explaining how "more than half a million children have been abducted or forcibly conscripted into government forces or armed groups in 87 countries over the past decade". It also discusses, how child soldiers are not only described as boys but also girls that are forced in roles such as "cooks, porters, human shields, sexual slaves, messengers, spies, or frontline combatants". " CHILD SOLDIERS IN AFRICA: A DISASTER FOR FUTURE FAMILIES. - International Journal on World Peace | HighBeam Research." Research - Articles - Journals | Research better, faster at HighBeam Research. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 May 2012. <http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-55301260.html>. This is a valuable source that will very well serve me in my research paper. It mentions how children are not only abducted in Africa but also all around the world for example in (Afghanistan, Angola, Burma, Iraq, Uganda, Lebanon, Liberia, Mali, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan and the Former Yugoslavia) but is most common in Africa, Sierra Leone and Uganda. It also informs us that not only did they recruit kids but recruited many groups of kids from different cultures such as; Lebanese, Germans, Jews, Africans, and sadly many others. I will be using this in body section one and two, explaining the different locations of children being abducted and who is being oppressed. "Child Soldiers in Africa - Alcinda Honwana - Google Books." Google Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 May 2012. <http://books.google.ca/books?hl=en&lr=&id=ZddAxmImB4MC&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=child+soldiers+worldwide&ots=4M8XkyGCY0&sig=XzYZ1PMrAqkaya-X80_AcvKesTE#v=onepage&q&f=false>. This website contains information about "The issue of children 's participation in armed political conflict has captured the attention of the world during the past ten or fifteen years". How the image of little ones carrying weapons has grown to such extent that it is being shown on the cover of newspapers, even on televisions and how little ones as young as eight or ten are being turned into "Merciless killers", committing the most dreadful terror. It also explains how "children are separated from their families, orphaned and uprooted from their communities". I will be using this in body section one of my research paper explaining the historical facts and who is involved. Dodge, Cole P., and Magne Raundalen. "Reaching Children in War: Sudan, Uganda and Mozambique - Cole P. Dodge, Magne Raundalen - Google Books." Google Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 May 2012. <http://books.google.ca/books?hl=en&lr=&id=l1-IK-lDVf4C&oi=fnd&pg=PA51&dq=child+soldiers+in+uganda&ots=o-1ugdB5iH&sig=e_ARECOg2tWPOAE5FphQ6GaK_S0#v=onepage&q=child%20soldiers%20in%20uganda&f=false>.Chapter four entitled "Child soldiers of Uganda and Mozambique" highlights the difficulties during 1981-86, where "Thousands of homes were destroyed, communities dissolved, and the fabric of social life in the triangle shredded". Children were separated from their parents. Their health and starvation increased the longer they were captured and it has an extreme effect on their future. I will be using this in body section one and two explaining what happened in Uganda and who is suffering. Work cited 1. "High Hopes, Grim Reality: Reintegration and the Education of Former Child Soldiers in Sierra Leone." National Center for Biotechnology Information. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 May 2012. 2. " CHILD SOLDIERS IN AFRICA: A DISASTER FOR FUTURE FAMILIES. - International Journal on World Peace | HighBeam Research." Research - Articles - Journals | Research better, faster at HighBeam Research. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 May 2012. 3. "Child Soldiers in Africa - Alcinda Honwana - Google Books." Google Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 May 2012. 4. Dodge, Cole P., and Magne Raundalen. "Reaching Children in War: Sudan, Uganda and Mozambique - Cole P. Dodge, Magne Raundalen - Google Books." Google Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 May 2012.