The Intergenerational Legacy of Trauma Generated in War-Zone Children

NB: We do not resell your papers. Upon ordering, we do an original paper exclusively for you.

NB: All your data is kept safe from the public.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Military activities
The ethical issue of child soldier
Child soldier
Dealing with armed child soldiers
Child soldier ethical behavior
Ethical laws protecting children
Intergenerational impact
Conclusion
References

Introduction

All over the world children are being used in combat war; children are exceptionally susceptible to military recruitment and also manipulation to violence since they are naive and impressionable. The children are either enticed or forced to join the armed groups. Despite how the children are recruited into the armed force, child soldiers are victims, and their taking part in conflicts brings serious implications to their physical as well as emotional welfare. Child soldiers are in a lot of cases abused and many of them witness the killing, sexual abuse, and death. Many of these children participate in the killings and many do suffer severe long-lasting psychological consequences.

Military activities

Throughout history, children have been used a lot in military activities, the activities of children in the military involve participating in warfare directly, taking support duties and roles like spying, or porter, or being used in war propaganda and at times as human shields. These practices are unethical and go against many cultural moral values. Way back in the 1970s the world has been trying to enact several international conventions to prevent children from taking part in armed conflicts. However, this practice has continued even though it is unethical. (Millard, 2001)

The ethical issue of child soldier

The issue of child soldiers raises the ethical concern about using child soldiers and how they should be ethically treated. Ethical values are main beliefs for instance duty, respect, and integrity that inspire the actions and attitudes of a person. Some values are unethical, ethical values do relay what is considered right and what is seen as wrong. Thus, ethical values do take priority above none ethical values. Child soldier ethics, therefore, deals with the code of conduct of armed groups be it the state military or other paramilitary groups that are involved in child soldiers. (Millard, 2001)

The recent past has witnessed an increase of conflicts in the world; due to this, the ethical issue of child soldiers has become an important issue today. Many of the general ethical issues that govern combat prohibit the recruitment of children less than 15 years into armed combat. However, by 2003 over 500 000 children currently are involved in armed conflicts; this is according to the United Nations statistics. (Millard, 2001) This, therefore, makes the issue of ethical to be more crucial.

Child soldier

There is no ethical reason why armed groups should use children in their wars. Unfortunately, fighting gangs have come up with sophisticated and brutal techniques to separate children from their families and communities. The groups normally terrorize children into obeying their orders. The child soldier comes to recognize that being obedient is the only way to survive. In many cases, this child is forced to kill other children or even family members. The children are forced to realize that there is no going back home. This is unethical behavior that should not be done to the children. These child soldiers undergo a lot of trauma, at the same time the communities that these child soldiers have been forced to assault also undergo trauma too.

Dealing with armed child soldiers

The ethical and moral dilemma that surrounds child soldiers has been scarcely been discussed. The question that arises is should professional soldiers deal with armed children soldiers just like any other enemy and go for victory when they are confronted with them? For example, in 2002 British peacekeepers in Sierra Leone were confronted with such a dilemma, when then a squad commander was not willing to fire at the group of children soldiers when they surrounded them. The children militias called “West side boys” were armed with AK -47s. The British peacekeepers were taken hostage, and when two weeks later they were rescued around 150 “West side boys” were killed in the rescue operation. (Brett and Margaret, 1998).

Thus, the ethical and moral dilemma that professional soldiers face is as tricky as they encounter. Military troops currently face real and dangerous threats from an enemy from whom they basically would wish not to harm. What is worse is that fighting children is even worse than fighting in normal welfare as it leaves severe psychological after-war effects, which include depression, stress, and post trauma disorder. (Brett and Margaret, 1998).

Child soldier ethical behavior

On the other hand, how do you deal with the ethical issue of child soldiers when you are confronted by child soldiers who kill in cold blood or brutally torture their victims? Are these child soldiers being used or they are responsible agents and carrying out rational choices? Do they have an ethical obligation to make the right choice? These questions elicit different answers. Thus, the ethics of child soldiers deal with the exceptional moral demands of the child soldier. Cohn and Guy (1994) observers that, if a child voluntarily gets recruited in the military, then the child must follow the code of military ethics. However, while the military does produce people with excellent virtues and characters; the child soldier lacks the professional training the military officers get. (Cohn and Guy, 1994).

Ethical laws protecting children

Millard (2001), states that there are many laws, international conventions, and regulations that eliminate the use of child soldiers, in 2002 another new protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict, was enforced, this convention prevents the signatories of the convection from recruiting children to the. The signatories thus have a moral and ethical obligation to ensure that children are not recruited in their armies. In another development, the International Criminal Court rules recruitment and or use of children below 15 years in warfare a criminal offense that is punished by the law.

Intergenerational impact

With an estimated number of 300,000 children being involved in armed conflicts in different parts of the world, it will harm future generations. Child soldiers have many times been depicted as “future barbarians” and their integration into normal social life is always portrayed as hopeless. However, many studies show that children and youths who have taken part in armed conflicts can be integrated with the community. Observations also reveal that in those communities in which children have taken part in armed conflicts, the children end up having troubled adulthood. Estimates also show that more than 2, 000,000 children were killed in war zones in the last decade. And more than 6, 000, 000 children have suffered serious injuries. From the data it is obvious that in those areas where there are conflicts and children are involved for example, in Colombia, Afghanistan, and Sri-lanka; there will be a great intergeneration impact on the future and present children. The impact leaves the children suffering trauma in their childhood as well as in their adulthood.

Conclusion

A child soldier is unethical and should be stopped; the international community should come up with more effective convections and rules that protect the child. Children participating in warfare undergo a lot of suffering both mentally, physically, emotionally, and socially. The life of such children is badly affected and as adults, it becomes hard for them to live a normal life. The children suffer long-lasting traumas and fail to recover. As we observe the number of conflicts in the world increase, the world is faced with the challenge of protecting child rights in this complex situation.

References

Brett, R and Margaret M (1998): Children: The invisible soldiers, Radda Barnen (Save the Children).

Cohn, I and Guy S. G (1994): Child Soldiers: The Role of Children in Armed Conflict, Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Goodwin-Gil, S and Ilene, C (1994): Child Soldiers; a Study on Behalf of the Henry Dunant Institute; Geneva, Oxford University Press.

Millard, A S., (2001): Children in Armed Conflicts: Transcending Legal Responses, Security Dialogue, vol.32.

Click Here To Order Now!