Monday, May 24, 2010'♥
With love ♥
Task 1
*Teachers,read this,friends,ignore this*
Poem analysed:Children in the darkness
The poem seems to deal with using children as soldiers and how the war has shackled them,they would never be free from this life.The use of children as soldiers have long been condemned as abhorrent and inhumane,yet,over the years,tens and thousands of children have been used as soldiers by people.In June 2007, the Special Court for Sierra Leone found three accused men from the rebel Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) guilty of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other serious violations of international humanitarian law, including the recruitment of children under the age of 15 years into the armed forces. With this, the Special Court became the first-ever UN backed tribunal to deliver a guilty verdict for the military conscription of children
I shall now provide some facts on child soldiers.
1)The recruitment of children under age 15 for military purposes is a war crime under international law.
2)Due to the proliferation of lightweight but deadly small arms of sophisticated modern design - a child of 10 can be trained to strip down a Kalashnikov - this enables a cheap,acquiescent and expendable army to be conscripted by warlords.
3)Despite the ending of various civil wars and release of tens of thousands of child soldiers in the period since 2004,there remain 14 countries in which recruitment takes place.
4)An estimated total of 250,000 children are in military service, including a significant proportion of girls.
5)There may be as many as 70,000 child soldiers engaged by government and rebel armies in Burma, the country named as the worst offender.
6)In 2007, governments approved a set of practical guidelines, known as the Paris Commitments and Principles, designed to assist the process of “disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration” which is particularly sensitive for children, often psychologically disturbed by violence.
7)A crucial step towards ending the use of child soldiers was registered in 2007 with the conviction of 3 warlords by the war crimes court for Sierra Leone.
Now that we have established a basic understanding,I shall cite a few examples of wars which child soldiers have been used.
1)World War 1(1914-1918)Child soldiers were in every army,every day,boys on the battlefield were dying
2)The Civil war of Sierra Leone
3)The Indochina wars
4)World War 2
Now,to move on,I shall cite a few of the most ridiculous justification I have found out about
1)There are not enough soldiers,we need every man we can get our hands on
2)These children should be prepared to fight to the death for their country
3)These boys are human too,they can hold a gun and shoot it,just like the others,so why should they be treated differently?
4)Most of them are orphans,we have taken them in,provided them with food and shelter,is that wrong too?
Now,I think we all agree that the use of child soldiers is morally unacceptable,I'm sure even the military leaders know that,so why press on in the use of child soldiers?Well,for once,most of the children are still too young to know what's going on around them,as such,they can be easily influenced into believing something.Secondly,as mentioned before,as lightweight modern arms become increasingly popular,a child aged 10 can be taught how to strip down a gun and reassemble it,the gun being lightweight also enables children to carry them.As such,this makes children an cheap and easily accessible source of manpower.Children also usually outnumber adults in the third-world countries that child soldiers are often used in.They can also be used as human shields or for propaganda,should an enemy soldier come across some children soldiers,they are less likely to open fire on them compared to adult soldiers,also,propaganda is made more effective as people are more likely to listen to children as they believe that they are innocent and whatever they speak would be the absolute truth,another incentive for the use of child soldiers.
So what becomes of these chidl soldiers after the war?
Well,those who joined for the money are usually not paid,those who have families find it hard for their family members to re-accept them,some have lost limbs and other body parts but one thing is for certain,all of them have been permanently scarred mentally by the horrifying war and the gruesome deaths they witnessed.
Sources:
1)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_use_of_children
2)http://uk.oneworld.net/guides/childlabour?gclid=CLWmyZGR7KECFcdS6wodrF2gLA#Child_Soldiers
3)http://www.anti-slaverysociety.addr.com/csoldiers1.htm
4)http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/life-after-death-for-africas-child-soldiers-446360.html
