Picture this, a helpless, 8 year old boy from a Somali barrack dressed in a soldier’s uniform with a rifle in his tiny little hands, aiming to shoot an innocent civilian right in the head. Our world continues to push aside the problem of child soldiers. Child soldiers all over the world are forced to fight in wars. Forced to kill. Forced to kidnap more children to become the next generation of child soldiers. The children are being forced to drink liquor and do drugs around the barracks. The entire regime uses child soldiers to take countless lives. The regime uses and takes advantage of these innocent children. The children often have little to no choice whether or not they enlist in the military. While the number of conflicts involving child soldiers has dropped since 2004 from 27 to 15, human-rights experts estimate that more than 200,000 children worldwide are still being used as combatants. We must stop this growing problem before more innocent lives are lost. First off, I believe that child soldiers should be considered victims because the children have to go through many bad consequences. Many children have been abducted by the RUF in recent weeks to carry military and stolen goods. Also, the army uses drugs and alcohol to make the children more obedient, ” Once the children are recruited, they become brainwashed through drugs and alcohol” (http://childsoldiersinvisiblechildren.weebly.com/child-soldiers--summative-essay.html:). Reflecting on this, we see that the children are victims because they are forced into getting brainwashed and they are forced away from their families to do something most of the children don’t even want to do . Also, the children are forced by their commanders through false promises and other things we can't even imagine. The children are forced to have to kill innocent citizens of their country and some are even forced to kill their own family members. Also, their commanders promised the children that anything they could steal including houses, cars, clothes, and food. “ False promises were given- that they would be paid in U.S. dollars, that they would get a house in Monrovia, or cars. This was a major thing that caused random killings; you get the property, if you get rid of the owner" (http://childsoldiersinvisiblechildren.weebly.com/child-soldiers--summative-essay.html:). All of these things makes the children become very dangerous at a very young age. The child soldiers are victims because they are often forced into fighting in the wars. Most of the time , the government forces the kids to go to basic training and then to fight in their war that they are already losing. The government shows up and tells the kids good things about the war and why they should fight so they would join them. They just say what the kid wants to hear. If that doesn't work then they forcefully take the kids and force them into the military. This makes the kid’s life miserable. The country’s government thinks that taking the kids from their parents is the right thing to do, but all they get is more deaths because of their poorly trained child soldiers. Forcing them into fighting makes them worse soldiers because they don't actually like what they are doing. This ruins their lives and is something they will remember for the rest of their life. Last off, child soldiers should be considered victims because their commanders lie to them in order to get them to sign up to be in the military. The children are brainwashed and forced to kill people that they don't want to kill. Their commanders never mention to them all of the unbearable things that they are going to have to do. This is very unfair to the children. Also, their commanders fail to help the children understand what they are getting into when they sign up to go into the military. This is evidenced by “Furthermore, many children join without carefully thinking through their decision. At the time they might believe that recruiting would lead to a safer life as necessities such as food, water and shelter would be available; actually fighting in war would not cross their mind” (http://childsoldiersinvisiblechildren.weebly.com/child-soldiers--summative-essay.html:). In conclusion, the many children that are being forced to kill innocent citizens and family members is becoming a growing problem. Child soldiers are victims and people need to realize that and take a stand against it. These poor children have to go through horrible consequences just to make their commanders happy. Countless lives are lost every day. These wars that children have fought in will have lasting effects on them from physical to mental. Child soldiers are victims not perpetrators.
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By: Haley Slosman and Caitlin Baudier Dr. Martin Luther King and Malcolm X both believed in equal rights for everyone, but they both had different views on how this should have been done. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. believed that in order to get their rights, they must protest peacefully, while Malcolm X thought that they should fight for equal rights however they could. In the end, they eventually got what they wanted, equal rights for Blacks, but only after they gave two speeches that changed everything. Malcolm X was a very fearless leader. He fought for the rights that he wanted, and even after being assassinated, his legend still carried on to help all Blacks win equal rights. From a young age, Malcolm got into lots of trouble, and even went to jail for drugs. This may have fueled the idea for protests, and later, the speech he gave to “A Meeting in New York, 1964.” Dr. Martin Luther King was also a very fearless leader. He fought for equal rights for Blacks and would risk anything to accomplish that goal. He is most famous for his speech, “ I have a Dream”. Both of these civil rights protesters believed in equal rights for Blacks and that African Americans are greatly discriminated. Dr. Martin Luther King once said, “ One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination.” Malcolm X once said, “ 1964 will be America’s hottest year: her hottest year yet: a year of much racial violence and much racial bloodshed.” Even though both Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had lots of similarities in the way that they led their protests, they also had a lot of profound differences. For example, because Malcolm X came from such a troubled home, the conflict from his past may have led into the speech he wrote. See, Malcolm and MLKJ were different in the fact that MLK wanted peaceful protests, while Malcolm said that he almost, “didn’t care,” whether the protests were peaceful or not. In “I Had a Dream,” MLKJ said, “We must not allow our peaceful protests to degenerate into physical violence.” This shows that MLKJ told his followers to have peaceful protests, to “not be guilty of wrongful deeds.” Malcolm X, however said, “When I say fight for independence right here, I don’t mean any non-violent fight, or turn the other cheek fight.” According to Malcolm, “Those days are gone. Those days are over.” These excerpts show that Malcolm wanted violence/whatever he could get, and MLKJ wanted peaceful protests all around. By: Caitlin Baudier A girl who has dreamed her whole life about going to the World's biggest cheer competition has been crushed. She lays on the ground at her cheer gym, Ohio extreme, crying her eyes out,and the whole room fills with fear.
A girl who has spent the last 12 years being really safe at cheer practice has just injured herself badly. She broke her leg. As coaches scream on the phone calling 911, a girl sits holding her leg in fear. Ambulances soon rush in and the gurney rolls out of the cheer gym, but practice still goes on. Katie Bailey heads to the hospital in fear. She wonders if her mom is as worried as she is. Katie should be practicing with her team. Not sitting in this ambulance. *** Six years ago, Katie's sister Emily, broke her neck from cheerleading and ended up dying. Katie was devastated. From then on, she was motivated to go to World’s and make her sister proud. Katie sits in her bed waiting to go to surgery. She hears footsteps in the hallway. She is coming to the realization that it was time for her to go to her surgery. “Bye, I love you,” Katie told her mom as she left the room. “She's going to be ok,” Katie's mom kept telling herself over and over again. “She's going to be ok.” *** In her hospital room, the TV is on. Katie flips to a different channel and to her surprise, the Cheerleading World’s were on. “Next up in the Large Senior 5 coed division, Intensity from Ohio Extreme Allstars!” “Go Intensity,” screams Katie from inside her room. The routine ends. Katie is crying, not sad tears but happy tears. “Katie are you ok?” asks her mom. “Yes, Intensity just hit the best routine ever,” screams Katie. *** 2 years ago when Katie joined the team, they weren't doing very well. “Intensity had lots of falls during practices and unfortunately, they did not get a bid that year,” says Katie's mom. “But this year, they really came together as a team and got a worlds bid. Katie has been waiting her whole life for this and now she can't even go,” says Katie's mom. Katie heard voices from outside of her hospital room. Next, her doctor comes in. “Hi Katie, we have some big news for you,” said Dr.Van. “You get to go home today!” “Really, I can't wait,” exclaimed Katie. Katie gets home and sees something written in big letters across the garage door, How would you like to go to World’s? Katie starts crying. “I would love to go,” screams Katie with excitement! “Good because we leave now,” states Katie's mom. *** They arrive in Florida and went right to the World’s practice arena. Katie sneaks up behind her coaches and teammates and yells, “Surprise!” “Katie”, screams her coaches and teammates. They all ran and tackled her with hugs. Before Katie knew it, the day was over and it was time to go to bed and watch her team compete tomorrow! Anticipation builds up inside of Katie. Her body is getting taken over by her nerves. “Warm ups went great,” says Katie. 1 more team to go, then it is Intensity’s turn to hit the mat one last time. *** “Next up in the Large Senior 5 coed division is Intensity from Ohio Extreme Allstars,” says the announcer. The crowd goes crazy! Everyone is excited including Katie. “I have a good feeling about this one,” screamed Katie to her coaches. “Ohio Extreme… Intensity”. The routine ends and the crowd goes wild. Everyone is jumping up and down. Katie hobbled her way on the stage and gave her team a huge hug! “I think you guys just won World’s,” screamed Katie's coaches to the team. Then came the stressful event… Awards. Katie was so nervous. She could feel her nails digging into her skin. “Now we will move into our Large Senior 5 coed division,” says the Announcer. 5th, 4th, and 3rd place not Intensity. Katie and her team sit in a huge circle holding hands, praying for their name not to be called. “2nd place in the Large Senior 5 coed division, Cheer Evolution from Canada.” Katie and her team jump up from the ground and go crazy! They are all crying and hugging each other! “And your 1st place team in the Large Senior 5 coed division is Intensity from Ohio Extreme Allstars,” says the Announcer. The crowd goes wild again and so do the coaches and athletes. Katie is so happy. Her dream of winning World's has come true. Katie Bailey now is 20 years old. She now goes to college at Ohio State University and is studying business. She has decided not to compete in cheer anymore. Instead, she is an Assistant coach at Ohio Extreme Allstars. “I'm done at one,” Katie says from inside her cheer gym. She looks out from her window in the gym. It's beautiful out there. Katie Bailey looks stern on the outside, but somewhere on the inside, near that beating heart, is a big smile. |
AuthorI am Caitlin Baudier. Archives
March 2017
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