The Revolutionary United Front (RUF) was a group of rebels that wanted to use children as soldiers. Child soldiers were very useful to the RUF for a few reasons. Children could perform tasks that others could not. Since they were small, they could sneak around and remain unnoticed to those around them. Soldiers that were 25 years or older may not have been small enough to sneak around as easily as children did, and elderly people who may have been the same size were not as agile as children. Also, children were naive. There were not as exposed to life as older people. They would listen to the RUF because they were scared and feared death. They did not think there was anything they could do, or any reason to try to gain freedom. However, during that time period, people thought of children as innocent souls. Children could be seen as innocent to the enemy, and then deceive them. The final and most important reason for using children as soldiers is that children had little or no idea of what the war was about. They did not know if they were fighting for good or bad, so it did not bother them as much if they were doing something that was injust. That ignorance of the motives of both sides was very key to the childrens' usefulness. The RUF wanted child soldiers not only because of their size, but because of what they did not know.
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I agree with the fact that children were in the dark about war and why or who they were fighting for. Once these children were captured, to spare their death (which was their primary concern at this point) they had to become a soldier. To add to Jeremy's point concerning the innocence of child soldiers, the military did not want to kill them. The military wanted to save them from the rebels, not open fire, even though they were "working" for the rebels. This gave the rebels all the more reason to force these children into war.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you said about the inoccence of the choldren and your imadeite reactoin of whether or not to shoot a child. This is becouse it is human nature to protect the young, but i do not agree with what you said about their size and agility. After all they couldn't perform certain tasks as well as say a 25 year old. They are also easily influenced and can be bent agaisnt there will to support a terrible group like R.U.F
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Jeremy's point about the children being ignorant about the war's purpose and why they were actually fighting. I think fear was the ultimate reason why children immediately became soldiers for the rebels without knowing what they were getting themselves into. Also, child soldiers provided the rebels with young, agile additions to the military. As Annelies said, the military did not want to kill innocent children, this acted as an advantage for the rebels. All in all, child soldiers were beneficial for the rebels because of their size, innocence, and ignorance.
ReplyDeleteSo far so good gang. The stuff on people wanting to protect innocence is interesting, though I think we will find that that innocence fades quickly.
ReplyDeleteAnd what is it about modern (20th/21st century) warfare that makes children potential soldiers in ways that they never were before? The first few posts/comments touch on it, but sort of skate around the answer.
I agree with Jeremy's points with how children were ignorant twards what they were doing in the resistance, and inherently able do do things an older person couldn't. I would also like to bring up the point of the psychological aspect of it, and their fear factor, with everyone potentially being a murderous rebel, the plain fear would break up communities, which also reduces the chance for organized resistance. I would also like to point out that children learn easier than adults, so children trained to be only soldiers could become a more efficient breed of soldiers as they grow up.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Jeremy's point about the fact that children had no idea what the war is about so they were just fighting for survival. They were just afraid of being killed so they joined the military. Also children were very agile so they could perform tasks like spying. And also they could be easily deceived so the RUF wanted to recruit them.
ReplyDeleteHey guys, I just wanted to see what everyone thought. This is actually pretty cool, it's like we're discussing this in a classroom, but we're not. Anyway, after reading everything, I just wanted to clarify that child soldiers would not be as good as 25 year olds as overall soldiers. They would not be as strong or fast. What I meant to say was that for very specific tasks like getting into small corners or sneaking around, they would be good because of their size. Also, I thought that there would be a sort of innocence factor involved with child soldiers, but after reading the second section of "A Long Way Gone" I realized that I was wrong. People did not trust their neighbors, period. Whether they were children or adults, people knew that anyone could be dangerous. And to Mr. Sykes' comment, I have to say that I am very confused. I did not know that child soldiers only started being used in the 20th century. Maybe it is because of the increased used of guns and other firearms? I suppose that a gun would be easier to hurt someone with than something like a machete for a child. I hope to discuss this in class tomorrow, but thanks guys for reading my paragraph and everything.
ReplyDeleteJack couldn't get his comment on, so I'll post it for him.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jeremy that kids would be easier to control than adults, and so I think that the reason they are using children soldiers, is that they can have a much easier time getting lots of boy soldiers and forcing them to fight. They can be captured easily and controled easily as well, so they have a very large number of soldiers.
All of Jeremy's post are good i especially agree with his point that states children are more influenceable and more afraid of death then an older person would be. They would also be more loyal to the RUF and easier to control
ReplyDeleteI agree with jack because children’s minds are very malleable, which makes it easier for the rebels to take charge and tell them what to do. The rebels can trick them into believing that they are on the good side, and because the children do not know why they are fighting for as Jeremy said the rebels can use that to their advantage. The children captured are usually alone without their family and friends and have lost all hope, so they just fight out of anger for what has happened to them. The rebels instill fear in the children and tell them that if they leave nobody would take them in because they have the mark of the RUF and they would just die anyway. Also the children are looking to belong they have nothing left because it has been destroyed and the rebels take care of them to a certain point and the children are safe because they have guns and weapons to protect themselves.
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