People recruit child soldiers mostly because childeren are often thought of as gulible, easily manipulated and adaptable to their surroundings in order to survive, these charcteristics makes children easy to control and also making them better than adult soldiers.
Child soldiers have been used several times in the past, one main time where child soldiers were used was during World War II. Hitler made being a soldier sound fun and exciting for young people during that age, they were persuaded into believing that they were doing a brave thing for their country which made them feel important to the war. In WWII they were much better than adult soldiers because they never doubted Hitler and never when against his word. Several adults did do this but by having child soldiers Hitler was able to prevent any doubting within his army. In fact, Hitler was able to control these child soldiers so well, that there were many incidents when a child soldiers parents would be doing something against the word of Hitler and the children would call the Nazi Soldiers and have their parents arrested. WWII is a critical exapmle of how and why childeren are thought of as gulible and easily manipulated.
Children are also known to learn how to adapt their lives in order to survive a recent-ish news story that shows how this is true is the girl, Jaycee Dugard, who was kidnapped at the age of 11 and held captive for 18 years. News reports and other sources like her step-father say that if Jaycee had not been able to adapt to a completely different life style, identity and enviornment that she may not have been found alive today about two decades later. The media likes to describe this as a child's instict of survival, that children are willing to change and adapt in order to survive different situations.
All of these characteristics that children are meant to have make them better soldiers than adults and provide people the reasoning to recruit child soldiers.
Also on another note, while I was thinking about child soldiers it reminded me of this music video that relates to it. So, I have the link below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aT434G38OBg
If anyone wants to watch it, it's a great song andthe music video does in a way relate to the topic.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Thanks Tatiana. I think you are on to something with the adaptability of children and the survuval instinct that they possess, two qualities that we certainly will see/have seen that from Ishmael in ALWG. And as you mention in your Nazi bit, children can be very loyal, to a fault even.
ReplyDeleteSo for everyone, how do you recruit child soldiers? And why recruit them this way?
Look forward to your comments on these or other child soldier questions.
Wow, you wrote so much! I'm still amazed at how good this is, even though I already told you during the Big Sister Little Sister thing.
ReplyDeleteYou're completely right too, children are really gullible.
What I think is part of it too though is that people tend to trust children and don't think they can do that much damage. Like, for example, if a 30 year old man is walking around and threatening to hit me with a baseball bat, I would probably feel afraid. But if a 9 year old did the same thing I wouldn't feel threatened at all.
Bribery seems like it would also be a good way to recruit children, once again falling back to how children are gullible and easily tricked.
You are exactly right in your reference to World War II. In 1943, when the Germans were running out of troops, an executive order came down the ranks to start using the Hitler youth as reinforcements. As soon as they were implemented into battle the ferocity with which they fought was immediately noted. This is because of what you also stated before, children are gullible. Now in both cases the children soldiers were very brainwashed. In Sierra Leone , the children were brainwashed by hatred for either the rebels or for the Government. In WW II the Hitler Jugend were brainwashed in the sense that they had power and they were respected. They were part of a movement that, in their eyes, was great and functioned due to multitudes of people working together. Anyway both subjects correlate directly to how child soldiers are useful and effective in an army, and are easily turned into killing machines.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with you when you said that children are extremely gullible. Children are easily led mostly because they think that adults are always right just because they're adults. This is something that army's recruiting children used to their advantage.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Mr. Sykes' question I think that the easiest way to recruit a child to be a soldier is to take them away from their parents and try to assure the that they are doing something good. This goes along with what Tatiana said about the Nazi's tell the kids they were doing something great for their country. The reason to recruit this way would be that it would make the kids even more loyal than if they were recruited by force. Because of this recruiting method, if it came to a defining moment of a battle the kid soldier would be willing to go the extra mile and put his life on the line for what he thought to be a good cause.
Good Job Tatiana!
ReplyDeleteMentally, children are much easier persuaded, because some of them cannot truely define wrong or right in a war situation.Physically, children have advantages such as agility and speed, so that can make them good messengers and spies.
In Medieval Europe, thousands of children joined the 'child crusade', believing the divine power will assist them. During the first World War, young people were bribed into the millitary by a small amount of money.
I definitely agree with you. I also think that they use child soldiers instead of adult soldiers because they can train them up and mold them into whatever they want to be. They can grow up and be the next Hitler or Kim Jong Il. It also helps to have child soldiers because when they grow up they will train their children to be a soldier. The tradition will continue throughtout the generations and it'll never end. Its also a possibility that these kids are orphans, who werent "properly" raised with morals and values. Some probably lost hope or were very upset about the passing of their parents, so in turn they decide to take someone elses life. I actually do think that child soldiers are better than adult soldier
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything Tatiana said in her paragraph. It is very easy to persuade a child. Adults do it to kids all the time, they will convince a child that something is true. One example could be a monster under the bed or in the closet. The difference in Africa is the children are persuaded to think that civilians that run away are bad people and need to be killed. Hitler knew this and used it to his advantage. In the first section we read there was a part where Ishmael's group caught up to another group of child soldiers. Both groups shot at each other, after the shooting Ishmael's group did not even think of what happened they sat on the dead bodies and ate the food. This is proof that after awhile the children do not even understand the to the full extent to what they where doing.
ReplyDeleteAnother reason of using child soldiers is that if they do not die they can stay in the war longer then an adult can. An adult joins the military any where from 18 to 24 and will fight until their in their thirties or forties. That gives less then twenty years of fighting. If a child soldier is used their fighting time is much greater then any of the adult soldiers.
The best way to recruit child soldiers is to threaten them or their fsmilies. This is a good way because nobody wants to see their family die and nobody wants to bring shame to their familes/villlage. by the way ... roomie you're video was awesome!!!!!
ReplyDeletewow, those were really good refrences- using world war 2- with Hitler's vendeta. I agree with children being easily manipulated. When you're young, you don't know as much as adults. This enables you brain to still be molded like clay. Hitler was able to brainwash the children because they don't really know any better. Of course, in the story some of the children do know better. I think mostly the children are best soldiers because they're frightened. They may allow someone to alter their way of thinking, just out of fear. These children's fear can then be, by the rebels, turned into courage, courage to fight for all the wrong reasons.
ReplyDeleteTatiana has a great point about easy manipulation of children. Even today, Al Queda and Taliban forces force children to run across mine fields for their own protection. It is definitely clear that many children are easily manipulated; especially with ads about junky toys on the cartoon channel. Children are always asking questions and in this African violence situation, they're receiving all the wrong answers. Great job Tatiana. Way to evaluate under pressure.
ReplyDelete