When Ishmael was 13 years old, he was pulled into a war he had spent almost 2 years running from, only to be forced into it and made a soldier. He spent the first weeks sleepless and scared but by the end he was a stone cold killer; he killed without second thought and never felt pain due to the drugs he was on at the time. He spent about 2 to 3 years as a child soldier before being taken to a rehabilitation center to help him recover from the drugs and to help him and other child soldiers cope with the PTSD so they could live normal lives after the war. Ishmael is not the only person who was once a child soldier, seven in ten soldiers are children who are seeking refuge anyplace they can get. Though there are some children who volunteer many others are forced into the war and given drugs so they don't think and do as they are told. The debate of whether or not child soldiers should be given …show more content…
Many people believe that child soldiers are guilty but there also also those who see that their crimes were forced to take place and that they were not given a choice. Child soldiers should be given amnesty because many of these children were forced to take drugs and brainwashed to be made into killers, it is not their fault they did what they did.
Child soldiers suffer so much during their time as child soldiers that for them they should not be put into a court for crimes committed during their times as child soldiers. For example In Uganda they use young girls and boys to fight and participate in war. According to the article, “Tales from Uganda’s Former Female child soldiers,” they have had an ongoing civil war going on and are using young boys and girls to fight for them in the
Ishmael Beah’s memoir, A Long Way Gone, narrates the story of Ishmael’s life as a child soldier in the Sierra Leonean civil war. Ishmael chronicles his journey from a scared, adrift child who lost his family in the war to a brutal child soldier who mercilessly killed many individuals to a guilt stricken rehabilitated teen who slowly learns to overcome his remorse from his past actions. Ishmael’s life as a child soldier first started when the Sierra Leonean army took him and his friends with them to the village, Yele, occupied by army officials and seemingly safe from the rebels. Unfortunately, within a few weeks of their stay, the rebels attacked Yele, and Ishmael and his friends decided to make the choice of becoming a child soldier in order to sustain their slim chances of staying alive. Ishmael’s interaction with violence was very different as a child soldier compared to as a civilian: while he witnessed violent actions before, as a child soldier he was committing them. As his life as a soldier demanded more violence from him, Ishmael sank deeper into the process of dehumanization with his main driving point being the revenge that he sought from the rebels for the deaths of his family and friends. After a few months as a child soldier, Ishmael was brought to the Benin home by UNICEF officials who hoped to rehabilitate the completely dehumanized child soldiers. With the help of Esther, a compassionate nurse, and other staff members in the center, Ishmael was able to ultimately reverse the effects of the war on him. By forgiving himself and the rebels who took away his close ones from him, Ishmael was able to restore his emotion of empathy and become rehabilitated.
Ishmael was a normal 12 year old boy in a small village in Sierra Leone when his life took a dramatic turn and he was forced into a war. War has very serious side effects for all involved and definitely affected the way Ishmael views the world today. He endured and saw stuff that most people will never see in a lifetime let alone as a young child. Ishmael was shaped between the forced use of drugs, the long road to recovery and the loss of innocence of his
In the book A Long Way Gone written by Ishmael Beah, Ishmael survives and describes his journey while at war. Ishmael was a 13 year old who is forced to become a child soldier. He struggles through a variety of problems. In his journey, he was separated from his family and mostly running for his life. Later on, he has no problem killing people and picking up his gun. In fact, anyone can be evil at any certain time with kids changing, getting drugged, and going back to war.
Ishmael also survives another dreadful event when he goes through the war. While trying to find refuge from the war, Ishmael and his friends ironically end up joining the army, to fight against the rebels. Over the course of his time in the war, Ishmael would be exposed to unparalleled violence day in and day out. During these times Ishmael says “Sometimes we were asked to leave for war in the middle of a movie. We would come back hours later after killing many people and continue the movie as if we had just returned from intermission. We were always either at the front lines, watching a movie, or doing drugs. There was no time to be alone or to think” (p. 124). This quote perfectly sums up the danger that Ishmael experienced during the war. Most of this danger however, was not the fact that he was likely to be injured or killed. Granted, he was on the front lines numerous days a week and snuck behind enemy lines frequently, both tasks which could have resulted in an injury, or worse, death, but the real dangers he faced during these times were dehumanization he faced constantly. Everyday, he either went out into the
As Ishmael’s life as a boy soldier slowly came to an end, these changes were the hardest to accept. He was given all knew clothes, lots of help, and was practically given his life back. A normal person would be happy to accept that, but Ishmael wasn’t exactly a normal person. His life was dedicated to being a boy soldier, and through that he develops a very violent mindset. When he is taken away from this atmosphere, he resorts to violence and has extreme drug withdrawal. ALong with that, he had severe migraines and wanted to be fighting for his country. Many other soldiers looked up to him for his dedication and contribution. Even though all they wanted to do was help him, he just wanted to fight.
Many kids are involved around the world in violent wars as child soldiers. These children who were forced into being soldiers had no other choice but to face their own death and therefore should be granted amnesty. This is because the great majority of the kids were forced into being war fighters. Even then, some people think that just because they’re kids doesn’t change the fact that they have performed horrible acts, and that they should be punished for their actions. Also, these kids were forced to take drugs and drink alcohol which influenced bad decisions and made them less thoughtful about the harm they were doing. So, child soldiers should get another chance and be granted amnesty after proven worthy.
First, Ishmael arrived at the village Yele which then became a symbol of hope and innocence. In this passage, Ishmael’s inner nature was battling society because he did not want to go to war, however the army wanted to brainwash him into thinking it was the right thing to do. Further, characterization of his thoughts reveals how innocent and child-like he still was because when he first saw the injured people on their way to Yele he felt “nauseated”(Beah 100) and had to look away, this indicates that he disliked war and violence. This also indicates that Ishmael would never have joined the army without its influence.Then Ishmael looked away the soldier said that he would get used to it. This interaction with the soldier makes Ishmael seem more child-like because the soldier’s acted superior and more experienced. In addition, he was still a child upon arriving in Yele, where he could finally feel safe. In Yele there was always “lively chattering and laughter” (Beah 101). It was a place where “girls played clapping games”(Beah 102), the boys “played soccer”(Beah 102). Thanks to this village Ishmael had regained some of his childhood. But then the army took it away again. The lieutenant got up in front of all the civilians and told them to fight. He said that they had a choice but he was lying, the rebels had surrounded the village, if they left they would have no food, and no protection, they would be wal...
The story of Ishmael Beah is absolutely heartbreaking. By the age of 15, there was no way count of how many lives he, personally, had taken in a war that destroyed his home, took his family and friends away from him and turned him from a young boy into a terrifying warrior, all under the guise of freedom, liberty, and revenge. He had seen more murders and deaths in his first decade of life than most people see in a lifetime. Beah was a child soldier in Sierra Leone, West Africa during the civil wars of the 1990’s. It can be assumed that Beah did not experience an average childhood because he was primarily focused on survival, but there were still some childlike things that Beah did throughout his trials that remind one that he is still young,
Sometimes they had no choice but to join the military to keep themselves alive. Ishmael’s life was finally changed by some good UNICEF people. He finally learned to forgive and gained back his humanity. There are few types of brainwashing method used in the military to keep the child soldiers energetic and injecting hate in them. While people believe that military people are the authorities, the Sierra Leone military used drugs, movies, and speech to keep the soldiers
Children have been used as soldiers in many events, however two that stand out are the use of child soldiers in the Sierra Leone civil war and the drug cartels in Mexico. Most people agree that forcing children to be soldiers is wrong and not humane. The people that make them soldiers transform them into belligerent beings by force. Child soldiers of drug cartels and the armies of Sierra Leone were threatened with their lives if they didn’t become soldiers. The lives of these child soldiers are lives that nobody should live. Situations in both countries are horrible because of the high number of youngsters that are forced to take part in drug use and are transformed into extremely belligerent and inhumane people; in addition they are deprived
"Facts About Child Soldiers." Human Rights Watch. Human Rights Watch, 03 Dec 2008. Web. 18 Nov 2013. .
Beah then supports this idea with the psychological issues the innocent later encountered due to the trauma they endured during the war. Ishmael’s experience in the war leaves him manipulated by drugs, believing that his victims deserved what he did to them, and with a modified moral compass. “… I took turns at the guarding posts around the village, smoking marijuana and sniffing brown brown, cocaine mixed with gunpowder … and of course taking more of the white capsules, as I had become addicted to them.” This shows how the army manipulated the soldiers into believing themselves to be justified as well as giving them more energy. When UNICEF comes to liberate the child soldiers, Ishmael and the other boys, that were child soldiers, attempt taking weapons with them to their new destination. “… I hid my bayonet inside my pants and a grenade in my pocket. When one of the soldiers came to search me, I pushed him and told him that if he touched my I would kill him …” This quote shows that the children were untrusting of anyone that was not part of their squad. This is also supported by the interaction between the two squads the fought for the government. “ … Where are you boys from? … And who the [expletive] are you? Do we look like we are here to answer questions … Did you fight in the army or for the rebels? … Do I look like a rebel to you? … I
... instill the violent act of killing in the minds of the child soldiers. Ishmael learns that he must channel his rage and seek revenge for the death of his family. From this, Ishmael and many other young soldiers now believed that revenge was the only way to fight for what they have lost. It is because of this violent filled society that Ishmael and other young soldiers suffered from a disorder called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. PTSD is a mental condition that occurs as a result of a psychological shock, which in this case is the war. As Ishmael was being pulled out of the corruption he was living in, it was at this time that readers realized that he was suffering from PTSD, and was going to receive help in order to correct it. All in all, it is the manipulation and misuse of the power of authority that impacts innocent young soldiers in a psychological manner.
Taylor, Rupert. “The Plight of Child Soldiers.” Suite 101. Media Inc., 11 May 2009. Web. 15 Feb. 2011. .
One of the major problems in the Middle East is child related. To be specific, child soldiers. It is estimated that there are over 38,000 kids who are forced into being child soldiers (Storr). Because child soldiers can’t prevent their horrific fate, they deserve to be granted amnesty by the United Nations. One main reason why they should be given amnesty is because they are forced and drugged into becoming killers.