Child Soldiers Research Paper

Imagine the screams of mothers yelling for their missing children and fires engulfing a village. For most people, this thought is distant. But for many child soldiers, this is a repeated nightmare. Child soldiering, the practice of military commanding adults using children as soldiers has existed for years. But ever since a civil war in Sierra Leone, it has risen when the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) began kidnapping children across the country and using them as weapons. Child Soldiers International, an organization that protects child soldiers, estimates that 50 countries allow child soldiering. Most of the child soldiers that survive the aftermath develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and need therapy. However, the lack of …show more content…
Many child soldiers struggle with going back home because their minds remain in the fight. For instance, an interview with a former child soldier, Norman Okello, helped confirm this. Said Okello, “The way I behave, it was very rough, even to my parents...sometimes even my plan was about killing them.” As Okello explained, returning home isn’t easy, despite therapy and treatment. The issue here is that many doctors can’t relate to the children’s experiences, and as such, can’t help them work through their issues.
A survey run by students at South Orange Middle School yielded similar results. For instance, 75% of those surveyed said that their opinions on recovery were more ambivalent, likely because it depended on the person; the majority said in short answers that the deep trauma would be too difficult to work through.
Another gap in figuring out how to help is resources. For instance, in an interview run by NPR, a psychologist explains the issue. “Those with the most severe cases of PTSD and depression benefit require psychiatric or medical care. But there aren’t many hospitals or mental health clinics in the area, Winkler [the psychologist involved] notes. Training and employing a large-enough force of psychologists and psychiatrists to treat every case isn't feasible. “Financing is a problem,” she says.” This aforementioned lack of resource has serious consequences for the child soldiers in need of life-saving

Show More

Research Paper On Child Soldiers