The Story of a Child Soldier

The Story of a Child Soldier


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kEL_LRBSqk



      The following video was about a man born in Sierra-Leone named Ishmael Beah, who became a child soldier in his early ages due to the civil war in the nation. His family was murdered by rebels and his village was destroyed, so Ishmael had no choice but to join the army to fight the enemy rebels in his country. He wrote a book about his devastating life as a child soldier and the catastrophic events he had to face after fleeing to the United States. He learned how to write and had a really good talent in his writing skills, so with the help of his English teacher they teamed up to write a fascinating book about his life during the civil war in Sierra-Leone. He is now 26 years old and looking forward to continue writing.

      This video reminded me about a article I read recently called "Teaching Kids How to Kill" by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman who wrote that kids in this era are getting more used to using guns than ever before. Without even learning how to use a gun, kids from areas around the world are having no issues on using a gun. This is a major issue because of the media and entertainment we watch these days which may be a result of kids using guns without any problems. The war in Sierra-Leone includes hundreds of child soldiers fighting one another, killing innocent civilians which is unacceptable! Kids should not use guns and they should not be inspired to use guns by other people and the media!

      Even though the video is about a sad child soldier who faced a lot of things, I still disagree on the part where Ishmael stated that he took drugs and other sorts of toxic materials, because why would he as a child soldier take drugs? I understand that soldiers can get forced and killed if they don't listen to orders, but taking various types of drugs and getting angry because of the drugs is not what he as a child soldier should be doing.

      In this video Ishmael had a miserable life as a child and it can be understood that he did have a really bad childhood because of the civil war and the shattering things he had to face. The most important part he explained in the video was, how he made it alive! Not everyone in terrible civil wars can make it alive but he was very lucky to live through it and fly to the United States after becoming mature and he wanting to write a book about his childhood. He was able to explain and show the world what challenges he faced as a child in his home land.