Spring Break
Column: End a grave injustice
Bob Bajek / Columnist
Issue date: 2/3/09 Section: Opinions
A couple months ago, I was watching the "24" TV movie. I was initially excited to see Jack Bauer back in action after 18 months without new episodes. During the movie, a shocking reality became grimly apparent to me: the use of child soldiers. The rebel army from the fictional country of Sangala used child soldiers for a large base of its forces. They recruit children around the ages of 10 to 14. Their young faces, etched with hurt, resonated with me. The movie was not for sensationalism; it was to reveal a truth to a largely uninformed American audience.
The documentary "Blood Never Dry: Child Soldiers in Africa" accompanied the 24 movie. Based on the documentary and additional research, I discovered the problem of child soldiers is worldwide. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) estimates that more than 300,000 children are soldiers in armed combat. Seven African nations use children for warfare: Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda.
The life of a child soldier is heart wrenching. They are forced to murder adults and even other children. Sometimes their commanders force them to kill their comrades to keep them in line. Boys are forced to rape women. Girls become sex slaves to the commanders.
You might be wondering how the children come into these horrific situations and do not escape. A book written by a former child soldier explains why escape is not an option. Ishmael Beah wrote "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier." He was in Sierra Leone during the civil war in the 1990s.
In the book, he describes the death of his family by the Revolutionary United Front army in 1993. Alone at age 13, he was recruited to joined the rebels for two years.
"This is how you bring children into the war, you destroy what they know, their families, their towns and then you can manipulate and drug them up and they can do whatever," Beah said in his book. Beah points to rebel armies using drugs to control the youth. Cocaine, amphetamines and brown-brown - a mixture of cocaine and gun power - are given to the children. The addictive drugs inhibit their moral decision-making. Beah describes how the high makes children continue the violence.
"When you are drugged, removed from the exhibiting the emotions you are capable of showing, it just becomes your reality," Beah said.
Beah was rescued in 1995 by UNICEF and came to America. UNICEF, Amnesty International and The Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers are some organizations that rescue and rehabilitate these abused children, helping reintegrate them into society.
Please consider visiting their Web sites and donating some money. I know I will.
Bob Bajek is a junior journalism major. He can be reached at 581-7942 or at DENopinions@gmail.com.
The documentary "Blood Never Dry: Child Soldiers in Africa" accompanied the 24 movie. Based on the documentary and additional research, I discovered the problem of child soldiers is worldwide. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) estimates that more than 300,000 children are soldiers in armed combat. Seven African nations use children for warfare: Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda.
The life of a child soldier is heart wrenching. They are forced to murder adults and even other children. Sometimes their commanders force them to kill their comrades to keep them in line. Boys are forced to rape women. Girls become sex slaves to the commanders.
You might be wondering how the children come into these horrific situations and do not escape. A book written by a former child soldier explains why escape is not an option. Ishmael Beah wrote "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier." He was in Sierra Leone during the civil war in the 1990s.
In the book, he describes the death of his family by the Revolutionary United Front army in 1993. Alone at age 13, he was recruited to joined the rebels for two years.
"This is how you bring children into the war, you destroy what they know, their families, their towns and then you can manipulate and drug them up and they can do whatever," Beah said in his book. Beah points to rebel armies using drugs to control the youth. Cocaine, amphetamines and brown-brown - a mixture of cocaine and gun power - are given to the children. The addictive drugs inhibit their moral decision-making. Beah describes how the high makes children continue the violence.
"When you are drugged, removed from the exhibiting the emotions you are capable of showing, it just becomes your reality," Beah said.
Beah was rescued in 1995 by UNICEF and came to America. UNICEF, Amnesty International and The Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers are some organizations that rescue and rehabilitate these abused children, helping reintegrate them into society.
Please consider visiting their Web sites and donating some money. I know I will.
Bob Bajek is a junior journalism major. He can be reached at 581-7942 or at DENopinions@gmail.com.
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Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
The World
posted 2/03/09 @ 1:43 AM CST
Knock. Knock.
Who is there?
The World.
Congrats on finally opening you're eyes and seeing beyond the small miniscule fantasy we live in called the United States of America. (Continued…)
J
posted 2/03/09 @ 9:25 PM CST
No need to keep pouring money into a bottomless pit.
The African countries you listed, as well as a host of others, already receive millions in aid (humanitarian, economic and food). (Continued…)
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