What Are The Effects Of Child Soldiers In A Long Way Gone

764 Words4 Pages

Statistically there are 250,000 child soldiers currently fighting today. Child Soldiers are being dragged out of their homes and or threatened with death to serve in battle. For that reason child soldiers are being exposed to dangerous situations that can cause death or other problems. In the book, “A Long Way Gone” the main character, Ishmael, was a child soldier for 2 months in Sierra Leone. Ishmael was taken from his family and fellow friends. This young boy was manipulated by the two rebels to either serve or death would come upon them. These child soldiers served while encountering major effects on fellow soldiers as well as Ishmael had. In A Long Way Gone Ishmael encountered PTSD, and other tragic events. History has proven that the …show more content…

Our findings suggest that many former child soldiers may need more than interventions to reduce the mental health problems associated with surviving bombings and torture.Typically children aren’t faced with dangerous events in their everyday lives, when they are it can take a toll on their mental health. Most child soldiers suffered from traumatic events and often found it hard to normalize society after the war. Soldiers were threatened and tortured into serving, after seeing death in front of their eyes most children were traumatized. Children need advanced interventions and support after serving to “normalize” everyday life with the effects of physiological trauma.Child soldiers need to be banned from making children's mental health worse and unstable. Children are faced with life threatening situations everyday, but not like these situations. Child soldiers are faced with life or death situations every day. Former children can be put into wars and battles without knowing ahead of time. These children can suffer from abuse and other cruelties from serving.Often referred to as “child soldiers,” these boys and girls suffer extensive forms of exploitation and abuse that are not fully captured by that term” …show more content…

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. While in battle children are made to take drugs to absence their emotions and pain due to the effects of war and coping with pain. Drugs are enhanced in the children's everyday routine but affected the children badly where they craved the drugs and thought of emotionlessness. I craved cocaine and marijuana so badly that I would roll a plain sheet of paper and smoke it.Drug abuse is a habit of coping but can become deadly.Drugs are often exposed during battle to decrease fear and feelings from killing individuals and feeling fear yourself. Most soldiers were used to the idea of taking drugs that at a point that is all they craved to stay “sane”. Drugs helped with the main idea of pain and emotion while in battle. Child soldiers are abused with drugs to cope which should be banned internationally. Children experience drug abuse, life threatening situations and