Child Soldiers, the disguised victims on the front lines of war. Abused into becoming war machines. Obeyable and responsive in the eyes of the commanders in lost countries such as Somalia and Iraq, these kids are perfect for the job. But most of the time there are no try-outs or interviews. Men brutally grab these children out of their families and train them to do nothing but kill and fight against their will. Why? “To give violent expression to the hatred of adults,” said Olara Otunnu, a retired Under-Secretary-General and Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict of the U.N. He believed that children were fighting in an adult’s war. Such children are forced to fight, suicide, steal, and rape in the place of Adults. And when they die they were just “mere” casualties of war. Amnesty? These children deserve to be awarded all the riches in the world, let alone amnesty.
“I started running from it in between 12 and 13. And I have lost my immediate family; my mother, father, and both my brothers were killed, and I was in a group with other kids. So naturally we thought that if we went to a military base we would be protected, but that was not the case.” said Ishmael Beah, a child victim of war. As he had no family, no food, and no shelter, he applied himself in a military camp for protection and to escape the uncertainty. But he soon realized that the Commanders have adopted them as slaves of war. To kill or to be killed, these children had no choice and soon this became their reality. They were easily manipulated into what seemed to be the perfect weapon with no strings attached. These children have surrendered themselves into a war they do not understand. “The Commander begins to look like your father figure”. With their young tender minds, the Children have lost themselves completely and everything they do is in the influence of drugs. These are not Children anymore, they are victimized robots fighting against their will. Their brains and emotional states are unstable. After the war, these Robots should be given psychologists and maybe even put into mental hospitals in order to recover from their traumatizing experiences.
In your introduction, you can expand your idea more. Write your reasons in your introduction as well. Also in the beginning of your introduction, you should try and hook the reader into your story so they want to read on.
ReplyDelete