Child Soldiers
Multi Genre Project
Child Soldiers
By: Ralia Lahlou
Ms. Gugel
March 2nd, 2012
The Beginning of the Change
From the first day, something about these innocent eyes filled with hatred inspired me to write. These eyes are those of a child soldier. Before starting this project, I did not think much of children fighting in wars, but as the research got deeper and my understanding of their situation more thorough, this project became much more than a simple task I had to accomplish. I felt close to these people as they are usually around my age, and some are even younger than me. I am aware of these precious years that make up our childhood and our teenage years. It is during this time in our lives where we discover whom we truly are and what we wish to do with our lives. Being deprived of these crucial years makes it almost impossible for one to grow and start one’s life. These children began their trip into hell when they were abducted by the militia or in some cases even the army. They are then forced to commit horrendous acts in order to harden them and to gain the militia’s trust. Many are forced to slaughter their parents so that even if they want to escape from the militia, they are too ashamed to return home. The militia hurts these child soldiers to the deepest of their beings, and hurts them physically as well. In Sierra Leone, it was reported that limbs were cut off and order to inflict pain on the child and to scare away any NGO’S or the government. This idea of a child holding a gun taller than himself is what inspired me to write my genres. The genres I chose for this particular topic helped me widen my ideas on child soldiers. My persuasive essay went against what I believed as I was trying to prove why child soldiers were a positive thing and how the children themselves wanted to fight for their country. This is an aspect we should never forget when researching about something, the other side of the story. This was done to understand fully the
Child Soldiers
By: Ralia Lahlou
Ms. Gugel
March 2nd, 2012
The Beginning of the Change
From the first day, something about these innocent eyes filled with hatred inspired me to write. These eyes are those of a child soldier. Before starting this project, I did not think much of children fighting in wars, but as the research got deeper and my understanding of their situation more thorough, this project became much more than a simple task I had to accomplish. I felt close to these people as they are usually around my age, and some are even younger than me. I am aware of these precious years that make up our childhood and our teenage years. It is during this time in our lives where we discover whom we truly are and what we wish to do with our lives. Being deprived of these crucial years makes it almost impossible for one to grow and start one’s life. These children began their trip into hell when they were abducted by the militia or in some cases even the army. They are then forced to commit horrendous acts in order to harden them and to gain the militia’s trust. Many are forced to slaughter their parents so that even if they want to escape from the militia, they are too ashamed to return home. The militia hurts these child soldiers to the deepest of their beings, and hurts them physically as well. In Sierra Leone, it was reported that limbs were cut off and order to inflict pain on the child and to scare away any NGO’S or the government. This idea of a child holding a gun taller than himself is what inspired me to write my genres. The genres I chose for this particular topic helped me widen my ideas on child soldiers. My persuasive essay went against what I believed as I was trying to prove why child soldiers were a positive thing and how the children themselves wanted to fight for their country. This is an aspect we should never forget when researching about something, the other side of the story. This was done to understand fully the
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