Are Child Soldiers Subjugated By War?

What if you were stripped of your freedom, your family… your identity. Abducted from their families and forced to kill, child soldiers face many psychological challenges as they seek liberation from their guilt and attempt to regain their identity as innocent children once again. Many of these children bear psychological scars and tackle mental hardships daily, yet their amnesty is still questionable. A majority of these children have had their childhoods purloined at a young age, stripped of any family these children are sent to the front lines and engage in mortal combat. Over time, these children develop a bond with their armed groups and serve them loyalty, coinciding with their morals. Although in some cases they may be perpetrators, child soldiers are victims of war as their values and beliefs are diluted by external sources. Additionally, as a last resort they compassion and safety from armed groups as well as act brashly upon instinct.

When making a choice that could define the distinct difference between life and death, children are put in dire situations that cause their instinct and need for survival to override their values and morals. One child soldier, Ishmael Beah stated in the article “Ex-child-soldier: 'Shooting became just like drinking a glass of water'”, "Somebody being shot in front of you, or you yourself shooting somebody became just like drinking a glass of water. Children who refused to fight, kill or showed any weakness were ruthlessly dealt with.” (Barnett, 2012) This is evident as to how children were forced into situations that they had no control over and were threatened to relinquish their moral values and beliefs. Additionally, Beah also mentioned how emotions weren't allowed. "For example a nine-year-old boy cried because they missed their mother and they were shot." (Barnett, 2012) Both of these examples relate to how child soldiers are not only stripped of their identity, but are forced to remove emotion completely in an attempt to rid them of compassion and empathy. Although some people may disagree, and it is true some children may be participating in conflict voluntarily, but many soldiers have had been purloined of their lives and families and have sought out provisions and shelter in a last resort from armed groups.

As stated previously, child soldiers are often orphans when they are recruited. Higher ranking militants tend to use the act of compassion as a way of motivating soldiers and invigorating their aggression. One of the main driving forces between child soldiers’ cruelty is their feeling of responsibility to act upon a sense of belonging, as well as vengeance and justification through the participation of conflict in armed groups. This is evident as to how children were forced into situations that they had no control over and were threatened to relinquish their moral values and beliefs. The article, “Kony’s child soldiers: ‘When you kill for the first time, you change’” indicates as to how powerless children can be when presented with these circumstances. One former child soldier of the LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army), Norman Okello recalls how he felt very proud when he received a full blessing ceremony after passing his munitions training. “You feel you’re now one of the family of the LRA. You are one of them, you are part of them, all you have is them. You forget about home.” (Storr, 2014) While it is true that some children participate of their own accordance, as many of the children are orphans they seek a father figure and often find empathy from military leaders and commanders.

One reason as to why child soldiers are prime candidates for soldiers is because they are easy to manipulate and intimidate. Additionally, they don’t demand for salaries and are less likely than adults to run during attacks. Other benefits for having children as combatants include children familiarising themselves with violence and often choosing it when they experience fear, anger or frustration. Ishmael Beah recalls this. Children also have a sense of obligation towards their leaders, likely in act of repaying debt or servicing for recognition.

A majority of child soldiers face issues that force them to make decisions they have no control in, although some children join armed groups voluntarily and are dedicated to their cause, most children face difficult decision of choosing life over death in a battle of values and morals. Additionally, militants also expose children to violence at a young age, this forces them to become infatuated with violence and is often the solution to frustration, fear or anger. Militants also act as father figures to compensate for the death of parents, children look up to them and seek compassion from them. Overall, child soldiers should be given amnesty as external sources influence them to act aggressively and force them to override their morals.

The Importance Of Acceptance

Both Elizabeth Stewart’s ‘Blue Gold’ and Gordon Korman’s ‘Ungifted’ feature a similar concept of trying to fit in as in both books, the main characters are constantly trying to integrate themselves within groups and wanting to be accepted. For instance, in “Blue Gold,” each of the girls want to be part of something bigger, such as Lai Ping, who attempts to distinguish herself from other village workers. Similarly, in “Ungifted,” both Donovan and the academy children attempt to immerse themselves into their respective groups. This evokes the idea of how acceptance is important and the lengths people can go to in order to be accepted. 

At the beginning of the book, Lai Ping is shown to be a girl who came from a village seeking a job at a factory to earn money for her ill father. After arriving at the factory, Lai Ping is introduced to Kai, who informs her about the things she needed to know about the factory. Although slightly suspicious, Lai Ping attempted to strike a conversation with Kai before he was chased away by the guards. After the incident, Lai Ping is called a “Stupid hick,” by an older girl, which she realises that standing out was dangerous. Subsequently, Lai Ping became more cautious as she tried to stay in line despite her monotonous work. Some might argue that this was a result of Lai ping being scared of losing her job, but evidence suggests that she became much less daring following the events of Kai’s first appearance. Following this, in Ungifted, Donovan is cautious when interacting with the students of Hardcastle as he fears them denoting him as an outcast.

Further into the book, after being discriminated by her schoolmates, Fiona is seen to be constantly trying to move past her photo incident and restore her former image. Some might argue that this was an attempt of desperation as she became more aggressive towards those who were concerned for her. But evidence points towards her wanting to be accepted again, which is seen further in the book, where Fiona uses people with similar stories such as Lai Ping and Sylvie to get her peers to move past the situation with sympathy. Similarly, Donovan wants his peers to understand that he is gifted in regions other than academically, in an attempt to distract them, he uses different techniques to make them forget about him being different.

Fitting into groups is important for people as being shunned as an outcast for being known as different can really have an impact on people, making them feel isolated and unwanted. Blue Gold and Ungifted address these problems and depict how certain people react to these situations, as well as show how their ideas develop and change throughout.

The Impressions of Peer Pressure

Have your friends dictated what you do, what you say and how you do it? Then you can simply say that peer pressure leaves an impression on you.

His consciousness conflicted with him as he attempted to follow instructions.

The young boy’s arms drooped at his sides and his chest tensed. Streaks of sunlight glazed the room in a warm gold, yet the air around him was dense. Even though he dwarfed the smaller child, he couldn’t push himself to do it. A group of children stood beside him, he sought attention from them, as if he were the boy who cried wolf.

Peer pressure has always been a prime issue within schools. Friends have the ability to put impressions onto others, but what marks do they leave? At times, the results can be more than favourable, but those delinquents have always disrupted the balance.

Young adolescents, especially between the ages of thirteen and fifteen, are quite often affected by peer pressure as social acceptance has developed as a priority for children of that age. Although, there are quite a small number of children who have been able to develop forms of resistance against peer pressure. A psychology professor at the University of North Carolina, Mitchell Prinstein quoted, “Those who are more popular, have families with low dysfunction and have high communication skills. But they still don't know why these kids are less susceptible.”

Aditya Bhanap, an 8th grade student, conceded firmly, “The key questions that revolve around this are quite basic, asking about who is affected and how they are affected. My friends have always had in an impact on my decisions, especially when it came to sports and other hobbies that I enjoy. Since I began attending UWCSEA three years ago, the community has allowed me to be more open to my decisions and opinions, as opposed to my first school. But my peers still cloud my judgement even until now.”

The key questions that Aditya stated previously are very relevant to the subject at hand, as it could lead towards discovering a few of the prime reasons to how and why peer pressure has become such a dominating tradition within schools and communities and a part of human nature.

When surveyed, 8th grade students in UWCSEA reported that roughly 42% were influenced quite frequently by their friends. Whilst relatively often, a majority reported that their friends affected them in positive ways, such as support and challenge in academic pursuits that yielded results that were beneficial. Adding onto the previous evidence, 66% of the students accounted that peer influence began to become more prominent during the age thirteen and above. While only a small fraction have found peer pressure to be negative, most have stated that it was due to concerns about their appearance and how their peers saw them.

Peer pressure can cause children and teens to conform to the behaviours, attitudes and personal habits of a group or clique. Peer pressure is often sourced by personal activities habits, as friend groups also tend to originate from them. Sometimes, kids within a group will pressure other kids to bully others due to reasons that are similar. This can affect many, resulting in low self-esteem and aggression towards others.

Even though it can be a minor issue within school communities, learning how to make better decisions when it comes to selecting and embracing friends can also affect how you treat other people. Friends can cloud judgment, but what the cloud obscures is a glistening sun.

By Philip Haryanto

Gordon, Sherri. "Peer Pressure and Bullying – What Is the Connection?"Http://bullying.about.com/od/Basics/a/Peer-Pressure-And-Bullying-What-Is-The-Connection.htm. N.p., n.d. Web.
"All about Peer Pressure." ReachOut.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2015.

The Distress Through Social Media

Have you ever experienced the true world of social media? The words themselves make some shudder and many ecstatic. There will never be an answer to whether it's beneficial or not...

The world has advanced. The word “iPhone” and “Samsung Galaxy” has become a trend. It’s like the same feeling to people when the world cup starts but the question is, why smartphones? Why not other phones? Well, it’s mainly because of two words, “Social Media”

Picture yourself at home, on your phone, on facebook and having a fun time scrolling. Do you really think that you are achieving or gaining something from it and did you know that the people who have the time to care about you, are just being ignored by your lazy and antisocial behaviour. Are you aware that a human spends about an average of 3 hours a day on social media? The implication isn’t that social media is unbeneficial” but the people who are trying to be active with you shouldn’t be neglected. Maybe you or your friends are being mature on social media but there are others who aren’t. Cyberbullies, trolls and scammers are like the dons of social media.

Youngsters, generally from the age thirteen to sixteen, are tormented by these cyber bullies on social media, however there are few who know how to deal with such dilemmas. Michael Hamm, researcher in pediatrics at University of Alberta, cited that “parents, need to be addressed that there child is being cyber bullied.” Alerting parents play a big role in these aspects. Remember, social media is much more distinctive than the real world and we should use it with caution.

Philip Haryanto, an 8th grade student, conceded strongly, “Social media is something that should be handled maturely. It needs to be utilised cautiously. There are many hazards involved, and I think that the most effective method is to avoid it entirely. I don’t have any experiences of any severe cases but I am acquainted with people who have and it was abhorrent and wistful. It is best to use social media when matured”

Cyber bullying not only affects us, but also the people amongst us and that is what caused desolation. “Once cyberbullied, it will be a rough experience to accept and prevent”, added by Philip Haryanto.

When surveyed, 8th grade students at UWCSEA reported firmly that roughly fifty percent of the people who they knew, have been cyberbullied and went through that atrocious process. Most peers, when surveyed, also responded that the first thing they would do is to alert their parents, but if we rely on our parents so much, then why do we use social media? This justifies that social media is meant for the matured and cyber bullies purposefully target young adolescents because they know that they can’t fight alone.

As we know, social media is a good way of spending free time and hanging out but we should be aware of its dangers. Sometimes, children can get influenced by the methods of cyberbullying and can start to do it which can be inimical to many. At the ages spanning from thirteen to sixteen are very crucial as that is when our brain starts to develop, and function better and faster and if we are influenced by these practices, not only it affects others, but if affects us the most and is precarious to our body.

Again, social media and the real world are complete two different things and both have its dangers and safety. It is like comparing cyber bullying and terrorism which again, is two bizarre and different things. If cyber bullying approaches to you, either block the account or let your parents know as soon as possible but, could cyberbullying be a lesson to teach youngsters not to use social media?

By: Aditya

"The Scientific American." Social Media, Cyber Bullying. N.p., 23 June 2015. Web.

Round Square

It wasn’t often UWCSEA East welcomed an abundance of visitors, let alone a large group of infants, but with the Round Square conference, today was different.

Students from Persatuan Pemudi Islam Singapura visited 8 DSz at the UWCSEA East campus. Warming the hearts of the 8th grade students, they enlightened the classroom and engaged in various activities prepared by the students. One of the more favoured activities was a Playdoh station, which allowed the infants to play with the homemade Play-Doh. The reaction the infants garnered during their entrance was a synchronised “Awh...”. A sound that was rarely heard during regular school days. Although most of the activities had received a positive response from the infants, Jenga was received poorly, “One of the kids kicked me!” expressed station organizer, Aditya Bhanap. Overall, the children were said to have had an excellent time on campus and were impressed by the class’s hospitality and the extensive size of the international school, and the conference illuminated a new path for connections.

By Philip Haryanto