Child Soldiers War Effects

On a typical day, children in America spend their time doing homework, watching television, and playing with friends. However, in other parts of the world, children are being abducted, sold, and recruited into armies. Their fate and future is not longer under their control but in the hands of their leaders. According to the international definition, a child soldier is “any person below 18 years of age who is, or who has been, recruited or used by an armed force or armed group in any capacity, including but not limited to children, boys and girls, used as fighters, cooks, porters, messengers, spies or for sexual purposes” (“Who”). While the use of child soldiers is prevalent in many countries, the worst cases occur in South Sudan due to an ongoing

explores the effects of war on child soldiers in the 2015 scholarly journal article, “The Guiltless Guilty: Trauma- Related Guilt and Psychopathology in Former Ugandan Child Soldiers.” In many third world countries, children are used to kill, torture, and be sexually abused because children are cost-effective to armed forces. As a result, these traumatic events “can lead to excessive and ruminative guilt, which may hinder the processing of what has happened and can result in mental disorders such as post traumatic stress disorder” (Klasen). Experiments on child soldiers with post traumatic stress disorder show that these children experience symptoms of re-experiencing, avoidance, negative cognition and mood. Although being a soldier as a child presents great physical risks, the psychological health of the child is more devastating in the aftermath of such violence. No child should ever have to endure the repercussions of war and

This piece will include the figures of five stenciled children, alternating boys and girls. The two girls that are included in the image will be wearing dresses with their hair in a ponytail and a bow. One girl will have a kite in her right hand while the other girl will be jumping rope. Additionally, the other three children will be boys who are wearing shorts, t-shirts, and sneakers. One boy will be dribbling a basketball, another holding a balloon, and the last one holding a baseball bat and glove. The activities chosen in the piece represent the typical games that children participate in when they are growing up. Below each of the children will be a casted shadow. However, instead of the shadow portraying the children playing, the shadow will depict soldiers holding automatic weapons over their shoulders. This shadow represents the hidden truth about child soldiers and the lack of knowledge around the world. In addition, a QR code will be embedded on the bottom of the piece that will link to a video that informs the viewers about child soldiers and the actions needed to stop armed