Language Arts Final Letter

Dear Andy Rabens,

   My name is Melanie, I am a student at The American International School of Muscat. Currently in Language Arts class we have learned about who are child soldiers and what should happen to them after conflict have finished. This is why I am writing this letter, to give awareness and explain why organizations such as UNICEF, Invisible Child Organization and Child Soldiers International needs more funding. Conflicts happen world wide every day and children are dragged into them daily and turned into child soldiers. I suggest that we help child soldiers more worldwide after wars and conflicts are over. Child soldiers have had their childhoods ruined, they have been taken from their homes, and have had their families killed.They have nowhere to go but join the military for protection and the need of food. After doing some research about this topic, I’ve come to the conclusion of realizing that this is an extremely complicated issue. Especially since people are rethinking about letting child soldiers back into their communities. I suggest that child soldiers should be looked at as children and victims of war. But depending on their mental state some might need more help than others to rejoin the real world, and here is why.

   According to the Child Soldiers International Organization, in 14 countries worldwide child soldiers are being forced to join and become a part of these conflicts, violating their human rights. Children are easy to manipulate and are considered the perfect weapon, this is why child soldiers are being taken advantage of. Giving them drugs and alcohol makes child soldiers become more cooperative, enabling them to commit crimes which they never would have done before, and are forced by commanders to false promises. Children don't have the same capability to understand complex things like war and conflicts unlike adults. War isn't something that is on a child's mind, so they won't understand that what they have gotten into is going to become a bigger problem.  Ishmael Beah, a recovered child soldier said that “once you join war, The commander begin to look like your father figure, the sergeants begin to look like an older brothers for you.” All these people showing a bad example to these innocent children.

After war is over, child soldiers aren't needed anymore. There is no one to take care of them and they are left with nothing but scars from war. After being drugged and taught that killing is correct, people state that it could be dangerous to let child soldiers back into society again. They could become corrupt and then their generation could form more conflicts. If we don't do anything to help these kids and give them the education and discipline needed, then things would just get worse for them and for others living in those countries. No child likes to live like a child soldier, so helping them reintegrate back into their communities could be hard and challenging, but it's worth it because every child deserves a second chance. UNICEF along with many other organizations everyday help rehabilitate and provide medical help for child soldiers. I suggest that the most important thing that you can do to help these children is fund something that I call the DSRE, which is a support program which involves aspects of things that child soldiers need, to re-enter the normal world, which are discipline, support, reintegration and education.

Discipline -Some child soldiers get used to this idea that killing is correct and they have no one that denies what they're doing but encourages it while in war. Discipline replaces the idea of putting child soldiers through prosecution or jail. Punishing a child for their actions might not be the best approach to this issue, especially since they have gone through some extremely traumatizing experiences that could take a lot of time for them to heal. Disciplining children or in other words, explaining to them what they did will not only help them realize their wrong actions, but will also help them understand why they committed thouse actions, and what's not right about them. Having more knowledge about their actions will make it easier for them to understand, and would make the job easier for volunteers, doctors and physiologists working with child soldiers.

Support- One of the things that Ishmael Beah mentions in an interview on CBC news is that “It requires people who are willing to look at us as children regardless of what our lives have been.” Child soldiers need a lot of support, such as bringing them back with their families, or having people who listen to them and are willing to give up their time to support and tell them that what they did wasn't their  fault, what has happened should be left in the past. One of the organizations that has helped a lot of child soldiers is the Invisible Children's organization. There mission is to help to empower local communities to protect each other from violence, heal from trauma, and demand justice from their leaders. This includes helping child soldiers reintegrate back into their communities and helping them heal from the appalling traumas they have experienced.

Reintegrating- The IC, (Invisible Children's organization)  helps children reintegrate into their communities. According to the IC some child soldiers aren't accepted by their communities because of threat that they could be harmful to their society, so they re rejoin the military. Reintegrating them with their communities would strengthen trust and helps the community welcome the new former child soldiers. The IC also advocates strongly for child protection agencies to increase the quantity and quality of reintegration programmes. For this, governments need to help children and communities as much as possible, and develop small-scale, well-adapted resources with enough long term funding.

Education-  Education is key to lifting families from poverty. It would help former child soldiers enrich their understanding and help them have a better life and career ahead of them. Education is also important because it gives children important skills needed to navigate life since most children have lost their families so they will need to be taught how to defend themselves in life. It will replace the thoughts of war and death, with something else in their mind. Education will benefit them 100% and will help their communities and future. According to the UNICEF educational programs that show demonstrated how inter-related activities are key to enabling child soldiers to become more educated on how to integrate into civilian life. In the Solomon Islands, UNICEF works with child soldiers on reflective thinking on issues of peace, diversity, and conflict. Additionally in South Sudan, an Accelerated Learning Program (ALP) designed under the Sudan Basic Education Program, (SBEP) provides alternative and faster basic education for older child soldiers from ages 12–18. All these opportunities help these former child soldier become who they really are, not who they were forced to be.

I hope you have realized that child soldiers, in the end are just children. They need people to stand by their side and let them know that what they did is wrong; and as long as they are willing to follow a good example, we’ll be willing to help them in anyway possible. To lead them towards a better life than the one they wish to forget. Your donation and support will mean the world to them. All child soldiers go through a lot of pain and struggles to become a new person. Because after all they are just children not soldiers.

Sincerely,  

Melanie Valderrama.

Student of The American International School of Muscat