Research Paper On A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah

Dismissal of a Childhood

More than 250,000 children have been captured and forced into a cruel war. (“Child Soldiers”). Unfortunately, the ban on child soldiers has not yet reached worldwide. There are more than multiple reasons why children should not be linked to war. The thoughts, actions, and ideas that are implanted into child soldiers' brains can be more than harmful to them for the rest of their lives. Such as drugs, mental problems, abuse, and so much more. Providing information about such a delicate topic could bring awareness to world problems, such as child soldiers. History has proven that the use of child soldiers should be banned internationally because child soldiers suffer from mental illnesses, drug abuse and are exposed to

In the book, A Long Way Gone, by Ishmael Beah, Beah is captured and forced into being a child soldier. They not only forced him into violence, but a significant amount of harmful drugs were introduced to him, to the point where it is the only thing he could truly concentrate on. This left Ishmael feeling empty and restless. “But after several doses of these drugs, all I felt was numbness to everything and so much energy that I couldn't sleep for weeks” (Beah 121). On average, most children forced into war are, at some point in time, introduced to drugs. These drugs give said character an unhealthy way of life, like low signs of emotion, which is very bad for him. The misuse of drugs, as shown in the evidence, can cause insomnia, which is unhealthy in plenty of different ways and something no child should ever have to experience. Such as lack of sleep, concentration, memory loss, and many more side effects that can negatively affect a child's brain progression process, causing disruption to their way of life. Because of the drug exposure child soldiers go through, it is a highly opinionated topic to ban the participation of children in