The Fear of Becoming a Child Soldier

Jesse Groves

U.S. History- Ms. Casper

Period 4

June 1st, 2008

The Fear of becoming a Child Soldier

If a child goes missing in the United States, the police are notified and then issue an Amber Alert. Radio stations begin broadcasting descriptions, while TV stations flash pictures of the abducted. Billboards along roads flash important information regarding the abduction. The police move out with helicopters and cars, and the Army National Guard may even be called in. Everything is put into operation to bring a child home to its family. At the same time, they go after the abductor to put him or her behind bars, so he or she cannot harm any other child. In contrast, in another part of the world, 30,000 children have been abducted in the past 18 years in Uganda. Many families have lost at least one child, or their villages have been attacked and destroyed by an army of abducted children known as The Lord’s Resistance Army. Children ten years old are taught to kill, often beginning with their own families. Other child soldiers are killed while others are commanded to kill in order to stay alive. If children do escape, they will never be the same again. The countryside is virtually empty from people having moved into “safe” villages that are supposed to be protected by the government which does not always happen. The use of child soldiers during Idi Amin’s rule has destroyed the country’s future because Uganda’s children are being forced to kill instead of enjoying a normal childhood of laughter and dreams.

Child soldiers live short lives because their exposure to war increases their chances of getting killed. The Lord’s Resistance Army is led by Joseph Kony, a cruel person who has brought Northern Uganda to a standstill. People are not able to leave their homes without having to fear the rebels. Commerce has vanished, villages have been burned down, and children grow up without a future. This conflict has been going on for 18 years with no solution in sight. This war is extremely brutal because Joseph Kony’s army recruits young boys by abducting them from villages and schools of northern Uganda. Kony’s older child recruits assault and force newly recruited child soldiers to commit atrocities on fellow abductees and even siblings. Thousands of children have been robbed of their childhood. At night, the children of the north flee into towns to sleep, fearing that they might be abducted. When the LRA commanders run out of weapons or food, they send their child soldiers to raid nearby villages and are told to leave no survivors. Often before raids, the children receive drugs to numb their pain. While the child soldiers fight, the LRA leaders just watch because they feel their lives are far more valuable than any of the children’s. The army abducts children and put them in the front lines of its army, ordering them to return to their villages and kill their neighbors, friends and parents. If they are lucky enough to survive, the children return to their communities with injuries and severe trauma. Although many may believe that Ugandans would still be stuggling even if there weren’t a civil war the terror brought by the Lord’s Resistance Army has had the most devastating psychological effect on Uganda’s people.

Ugandan families have to live their lives as nomads beacause of their constant fear that the rebels might raid their villages. Each night in northern Uganda, tens of thousands of terrified children leave their villages at dusk and walk into neighboring towns to avoid being kidnapped by the Lord's Resistance Army. Loving parents reluctantly send their children away every night. They seek refuge overnight in churches, hospitals, bus stations and temporary shelters. Early the following morning, children have to walk miles in order to head home or go to school. These children are lucky in some ways because they sleep away from the rebels. Almost every family in the Acholi and Lango areas has been affected. Meanwhile children in Gulu and Lira cannot even be reached by aid workers for basic health care because they fear being attacked by the LRA.

The corrupt Amin government in Uganda directly led his opposition’s abduction and exploitation of child soldiers. The Ugandan government ran mostly by Idi Amin fell into such a deep financial crisis that when other countries would send in food and money, the government would not spread its wealth to the country’s population. Instead the outside aid that was given only made the corrupt government even stronger. Idi Amin was known to be corrupt and incapable of maintaining a successful economy. He bribed all of his men with luxury items such as alcohol and expensive gifts without sharing the rest of his wealth with his people. Idi Amin was known for taking money from public projects and giving it to his military commanders. In an act of racism, Idi Amin ordered 50,000 Asian shop owners to be expelled from Uganda. Factories and businesses crumbled and Idi Amin's arms trafficking industry collapsed. Britain, America, and Israel started to support Amin by giving military training for Ugandan troops so that they could stabilize the region. The international community ignored