...Nearly 300,00 children have been shipped off to war to fight for their country. The issue of child soldiers started on May, 1998. Afghanistan and Central African Republic use child soldiers the most. Luckily, India, Myanmar, U.K., and Thailand are trying to stop the issue of child soldiers. Child soldiers are mostly being used because a country might have a small population. They are innocent people under the age of 18 that are used as suicide bombs and fighters. All children that are child soldiers were forced against their will and had no choice in what they were doing. The kids are brainwashed into thinking they are doing what is right. Child soldiers are hurting the entire community because they are just small innocent kids being sent to...
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...Imagine, a small child, born and raised in a country of conflict, holding a fully automatic rifle, ready to fight in war, this is a picture of a child soldier. The media does not show you the real news of innocent children fighting for their lives to survive and elude the conflict for a better life and future. The silence of the people continues to support the serious issue, passively letting it happen to vulnerable children who are in need of care and help. Children are forced by their leaders/commanders to do the unimaginable such as killing innocent civilians, other children, and even their families, scarring them for life. These young soldiers are deprived from a normal childhood and education as most children have in today's society. Many...
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...The issue of whether we should give child soldiers amnesty has been debated many times throughout the years. It is an important issue because people don't want children out on the streets who know how to kill people in many different ways. Children as young as nine could be out there and know how to use a gun. A variety of arguments have been put towards this issue. Ultimately, these children should be given amnesty. Commanders are getting child soldiers addicted to drugs and alcohol and bending them against their will. "More often than not children have no say in whether they enlist or not and once recruited the children become brainwashed through the use of drugs and alcohol." (“Child Soldiers:...”) These children do not have a choice and are being forced to drink and do drugs. Sometimes, the drugs make them want to stay. "The drugs, often cocaine mixed with gunpowder, brainwash the children to the point where they would rather not escape from the horror unraveling around them." (“Child Soldiers:...”) They do not understand what's happening to them and they can not make it stop....
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...predominantly associated with one word, death. Even though there have been at least 12 countries with a documented history of child soldiers this paper will focus on one country in Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo. The research will describe how and why children are becoming soldiers, what life is like for child soldiers, how some children avoid becoming soldiers, and what happens to the soldiers when they become free. Since 1997 the Democratic Republic of Congo has become something like a never-ending nightmare, one of the bloodiest conflicts since World War II, causing more than five million deaths. It seems inconceivable that the biggest country in sub-Saharan Africa and on paper one of the richest, packed with copper, diamonds and gold, as well as immense farmlands of great fertility and enough hydropower to light up the continent, is now one of the poorest, and most hopeless nations on earth. Unfortunately, there are no promising solutions within grasp, or even within sight. One of the gloomiest parts about this nightmarish conflict is the use of child soldiers. The overwhelming majority of child soldiers in the Congo have been kidnapped from their families by rebel groups. It has been estimated that one in ten child soldiers or 30,000 children are found in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The United Nations believes that 15-30% of all newly recruited soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo army are less than 18 years old. One...
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...their fathers caused by the assignment of the military. These authors pinpoint some of the difficult obstructions these children have to face while these men are MIA (missing in action). They talk about the adjustment and the adapting to the prolonged and seemingly indefinite absence of a father, and how a relationship between a father and child changes over the long period of time until the veteran returns. Moreover, they collected data from 42 families of returned prisoners of the Vietnam War and attempted to identify a combination of factors that could explain the variability in the quality of the father-child relationship subsequent to the returning from the War. This information from this book will help convey emotional lives that these children have to endure. This book will strengthen my research by pointing out how children are affected when there is a nonattendance of one of the parents for a long period of time. Bowen, L. Gary, Dennis K. Orthner. The Organization Family: WORK AND FAMILY LINKAGES IN THE U.S... New York, NY: Praeger Publishers, 1989. Print. This book depicts how marital relationships get torn apart because of soldiers that come back from the war with post traumatic stress and have the need to have an aggressive and physical attitude towards their wife. The aggression these women have to face forces them to determine if they will stick by these veterans or get a divorce because these men don’t know how to control this disorder. Bowen...
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...Africa in Cinema- Final Paper Professor Rice May 2010 Child Soldiers in Sierra Leone This semester, the topic of Child Soldiers presented a very interesting dilemma that several countries in Africa continue to face today. Sierra Leone, in particular, has struck an interest because of the many films and readings that try to depict this story of the civil war. In class, we have viewed two films representing the problems with child soldiers in Sierra Leone which include films titled Blood Diamond and Ezra. Both films represent opposite sides of the spectrum, as Blood Diamond shows the Western view of child soldiers and Ezra represents the first African view of child soldiers. Before discussing the two films, there are also two articles that depict the issues of child soldiers in great detail. In the first article by A. B. Zack-Williams titled, “Child Soldiers in the Civil War in Sierra Leone,” the author describes the reasons behind children even joining rebel based armies such as the RUF, why children are chosen as soldiers against their will, and the examination of policies that are yet to be instilled on this matter. The first valid point that the author makes is the purpose of the RUF (Revolutionary United Front). The focus of this organization is to seek a better life for the people in Sierra Leone. They feel as if their lives have been wasted because of poor housing, malnutrition and no opportunity to succeed and that the government is to blame. With that said...
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...Position Paper Outline In Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Syria and many other countries in the world there are still children being recruited to war. (according to Reliefweb) In fact, child soldiers are used for fighting. For instance, kids are forced to take part in wars, forced to kill, and commit other acts of violence. In addition,the children are used as cooks, porters, messengers, informants, spies or anything their commanders want them to do. Many people believe that child soldiers should not be given amnesty, however, I believe that these juveniles should because they are forced to take part in the military, are also not old enough to know how to make the right decisions. Also these adolescents do not have 100% control over their...
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...Tamil people in the north and east of Sri Lanka. After the Indian Peace Keeping Force attack in October 1987, the LTTE began abducting and forcing large amounts of women and children (many under 15) to fight. Children were immediately trained for massed attacks in battles, they have been the LTTE leader’s most preferred recruits as they can be easily brain washed into suicide bomber, which was their main purpose. Over 90% of the LTTE cadre had been recruited as underage. Child soldering is considered one of the most heinous war crimes committed against humanity. UNICEF statistics indicate 1,591 cases against the LTTE up to end may2007. Once recruited either by force or otherwise, the children are separated from the rest of the world and trained to do all sorts of terrorist acts including killing Sinhalese and Muslim children. 5,794 cases of child abductions have been reported against the LTTE between January 2001 and December 2006 period. All of these children have been recruited to the LTTE as child soldiers. Girls and boys were forcibly...
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...W O M E N ’ S C O M M I S S I O N for refugee women & children w U N TA P P E D P OT E N T I A L : Adolescents affected by armed conflict A review of programs and policies U N TA P P E D P OT E N T I A L : Adolescents affected by armed conflict A review of programs and policies Wo m e n ’s C o m m i s s i o n f o r R e f u g e e Wo m e n & C h i l d r e n N e w Yo r k W O M E N ’ S C O M M I S S I O N for refugee women & children Copyright © January 2000 by Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America ISBN: 1-58030-000-6 Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children 122 East 42nd Street New York, NY 10168-1289 tel. 212.551.3111 or 3088 fax. 212.551.3180 e-mail: wcrwc@intrescom.org www.intrescom.org/wcrwc.html w cover photographs © Rachel K. Jones, Marc Sommers, Sarah Samson, Holly Myers, Anne-Sophie Rosette, International Rescue Committee M I S S I O N S TAT E M E N T The Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children seeks to improve the lives of refugee women and children through a vigorous program of public education and advocacy, and by acting as a technical resource. The Commission, founded in 1989 under the auspices of the International Rescue Committee, is the only organization in the United States dedicated solely to speaking out on behalf of women and children uprooted by armed conflict or persecution. Acknowledgments The Women’s Commission expresses its sincere...
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...deployments may occur in rapid succession and be extended. Therefore, military personnel and their families must always be deployment-ready. Deployments are not easy and can create significant stress for U.S. military men and women and their families. In many cases deployments cans create problems in families. It can contribute to marital problems, family dysfunction, and emotional or behavioral disturbance in spouses and children. The primary purpose of this research paper is to describe the effects of military deployments on a families and children. This paper will discuss the effects and they type of effects the military families and children are faced with. “Deployments in the United States have increased greatly in the past 10 years. Families and children are psychiatrically affected by these deployments and recent studies are clarifying these effects.” (James 2012, p.16) Deployments in military service entails the departing of men and women who leave their families and their homes with a group of other soldiers (Army, Air force, Marines, Navy) and go to another country for a period of 90 days to 15 months. During this time they earn what is called combat pay. This is given because of the danger they are placed in while in these other countries. “A soldier’s life exists on a...
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...Evelyn Ramirez Marlene Soto History Dolley Madison 5/4/17 Task: Research Report Introduction Dolley Madison was one of the most influential person at her time and her effects are still with us today. She lived through an epidemic that killed her first husband and second son. She even risked her life during the War of 1812 for a painting of George Washington when the British soldiers were going to burn the White House. Early Life Dolley Payne, later known as Dolley Madison, was born on May 20, 1768 in New Garden, North Carolina. New Garden is a Quaker settlement which her family left, 10 months after Dolley was born. They moved to a plantation in Virginia, which was...
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...2013 Child Soldiers What accounts for the phenomenon of child soldiers in Africa? The primary cause contributing to the recruitment of child soldiers in Africa is poverty. While other factors such as ‘war’ itself, proliferation of small arms, lack of education, displacement all inevitably lead to child soldier recruitment, it is however poverty at the root of these circumstances. Therefore this essay shall argue this case by examining how Africa has come to have such high levels of poverty and by showing the association between other factors and that of poverty. To establish what is meant by the term ‘child soldier’ it must first be defined and a brief description offered that explains the recruitment practices used. This in turn allows the reader to better comprehend the devastating outcomes when underlying causes such as extreme poverty are not addressed. Subsequently this essay examines the factors that account for the phenomenon of child soldiers in Africa and through this examination of causal factors it will become apparent that poverty is a recurring theme. Once it has been established that poverty is indeed the major cause of child soldier recruitment attention is then given to what is being done to stop it. Finally consideration must be given to the problems that arise when addressing the issues of disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of the child soldier back into the community, to avoid a replication of the whole cycle. This focus on stopping child soldier...
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...the Huffington Post women handle combat stress as well as men (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/08/women-combat-stress_n_873381.html). It is the purpose of this paper to show that psychologically women do not handle combat stress as well as men. Through research I will show that women have a higher chance of suffering from Military Sexual Trauma (MST) and have increased risk of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The definition of MST used by the VA is given by U.S. Code (1720D of Title 38). It is “psychological trauma, which in the judgment of the VA mental health professional, resulted from a physical assault of a sexual nature, battery of a sexual nature, or sexual harassment which occurred while the Veteran was serving on active duty or active duty for training.” Sexual harassment is further defined as “repeated, unsolicited verbal or physical contact of a sexual nature which is threatening in character.” In more concrete terms, MST includes any sexual activity where you are involved against your will (http://www.ptsd.va.gov/public/pages/military-sexual-trauma-general.asp ). PTSD as covered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs can occur after a traumatic event. A traumatic event is something terrible and scary that you see, hear about, or that happens to you like combat exposure, child sexual or physical abuse, sexual or physical assault, terrorist attack, serious accidents like a car wreck, or a natural disaster. (http://www/ptsd.va.gov/public/pages/what-is-ptsd...
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...practice skills and intervention strategies are introduced generally, but a more in-depth exploration of intervention strategies are discussed in later chapters as they apply to particular social problems and practice settings. The course concludes with an exploration of macro practice where change is affected on a broader scale, both domestically and abroad. Students should leave this class having a good idea of what a human service worker is, what they do, who they work with, as well as the gaining a deeper understanding of the mission, values and goals embraced by the human service profession. Students will gain knowledge of skills needed to do critical thinking, make oral presentations, function in learning teams, conduct research, and write academic papers in the format of The Publication Manual for the American Psychological Association. Students will be introduced to the university library and learn how to access its resources successfully. Policies Faculty and students/learners will be held responsible for understanding and adhering to all policies contained within the following two...
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...experience. In a study taken by the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, research was conducted to see who in the last 18 months had a special romantic relationship. After receiving the data it was noted that lower income families have children that produce the majority of unintentional pregnancies. Upper class children tend to wait until later in life. This data shows that lower income families develop or participate in early sexual behavior at a younger age than upper income families. Even though lower income families have sexual encounters at earlier ages the data also shows that they marry at younger ages as well. This is a main cause for the high divorce rate. These two situations are primarily due to lack of education and resources from a family of poverty. Marriage patterns also follow the parents’ example. For instance, children from higher educated and income families follow the traditional marriage example. This means that they marry first then become parents. And the opposite follows for children with “less-than” backgrounds of their parental disadvantaged situation. This information also states that lower income families also tend to produce children at younger ages; then get married hindering their chance of progressing in education and financial independence. As the article progresses, it explains that different social statuses have different outcomes. Soldiers are relatively young and in the middle class section...
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