Summary: Life For The Children Of Sierra Leone

If a child goes to war and the rest of the world never notices, then it seems as though their life does not matter. The small African country of Sierra Leone was left devastated due to a civil war in the 1990s, and needed help from outside countries, including the United States. This war caused the children of Sierra Leone to fall victim to the horrifying violence. As the United States became even more powerful in the 90s, the state of Sierra Leone diminished into a helpless post-war country. Due to the traumatic war, the children of Sierra Leone were left with a more consequential life compared to American children.

As soon as the new decade began, life for the children of Sierra Leone took a turn for the worse. Due to the strength of the

rebels, who were fighting against the Sierra Leonean government during the civil war, families were torn apart with violence and cruelty. In the book A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, author Ishmael Beah describes only a fraction of the chaos that came to him during the war. “Families were separated and left behind everything they had worked for their whole lives” (Beah 73). Even in the beginning of the war lives were ripped apart due to families running from rebels in order to find safety. While children like Beah try to escape violence, parents from America during the 90s are trying to censor violence that children see from their television screens. Charles S. Clark explains the controversy over violence on TV and parents efforts to reduce child exposure to these barbaric shows in his article TV Violence. “ Recently three major networks signed a first- ever joint statement outlining practices aimed at reducing violence, and the cable, video and film industries are showing signs of cooperating.” (Clark para 3). American children who view violence on television for entertainment while children in Sierra Leone experience violence in their daily lives. Being in the middle of a war and watching one from far away are two very different experiences- one leads to a life of inhumane brutality and the other leads to tolerance of violence.