Child Soldiers

Child Soldiers' Testimonials

Interview 1

Hello, welcome to the program Daily News. Today we're going to talk about experiencies of child soldiers. Let's start with Susan's Experience.

“Hello everybody. I'm glad to be here with you this morning. I want you to pay attention to my story... One boy tried to escape, but he was caught. They made him eat a mouthful of red pepper, and five people were beating him. His hands were tied, and then they made us, the other new captives, kill him with a stick. I felt sick. I knew this boy from before. We were from the same village. I refused to kill him, and they told me they would shoot me. They pointed a gun at me, so I had to do it. The boy was asking me, "Why are you doing this?" I said I had no choice. After we killed him, they made us smear his blood on our arms. I felt dizzy. There was another dead body nearby, and I could smell the body. I felt so sick. They said we had to do this so we would not fear death, and so we would not try to escape.”

Interview 2

First Testimony

When Ishmael was 14, he was recruited into the Sierra Leone Army. He remained a soldier for almost three years. In his testimony he described his first experience at the front line. He is now studying in the U.S

"When we got there we were in an ambush, the rebels were attacking where we were in the bush. I did not shoot my gun at first, but when you looked around and saw your schoolmates, some younger than you, crying while they were dying with their blood spilling all over you, there was no option but to start pulling the trigger. The sight stays with you. I was just pulling the trigger. I lost my parents during the war, they told us to join the army to avenge our parents.The first time I went into battle I was afraid. But after two or three days they forced us to start using cocaine, and then I lost my fear. When I was taking drugs, I never felt bad on the front. Human blood was the first thing I would have every morning. It was my coffee in the morning…every morning."

Second Testimony

"Three army sergeants asked me to join the army. I said no and came back home that evening, but an army recuitment unit arrived at my village. They beat all the people there, old and young, they killed them all, nearly 10 people... like dogs they killed them... I didn't kill anyone, but I saw them killing... the children who were with them killed too... with weapons... they made us drink the blood of people, we took blood from the dead into a bowl and they made us drink... then when they killed the people they made us eat their liver, their heart, which they took out and sliced and fried.... And they made us little ones eat."

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  AFTER THE LISTENING... THINKING QUESTIONS
• What is a child soldier?
  In what types of activities do child soldiers participate?
  Where, why, when and how are child soldiers involved in combat?
• What is the impact of warfare on child soldiers? 
  What actions have been taken by the world community to eliminate the use of child soldiers?
  
  
  
  
  

Bullying at School

Glossary

Glossary 
Abuse
treat with cruelty or violence. To use something for a bad purpose or wrongly.

Advocate
somebody who publicly supports or says good things about something.

Afford
to have money enough to spare for. Also be able to buy — to be able to meet the cost of something.

Court
a place where law trials are held. Also a meeting of all the persons who are to seek justice in a law case, including the judge or judges, the lawyers, and jury.

Culture
the ideas, skills, arts, tools, and way of life of a certain group of people.

Declaration
a public statement; announcement.

Defend
to keep safe from harm or danger; guard; protect.

Democracy
government in which the people hold the ruling power, usually giving it over to representatives whom they elect to make the laws and run the government.

Detain
to keep from going; to keep for a while in custody; confine.

Difference
a way in which people or things are not alike.

Discriminate
to treat one person or group worse than others or better than others, usually because of prejudice about race, ethnic group, age group, religion, or gender.

Duty
something that a person should do because it is thought to be right, just, or moral.

Equal
having the same rights, ability, or opportunities as another.

Ethnic
having to do with a certain group, often from a specific area, that has the same culture.

Fair
just and honest; according to what is right. 

Free
not under the control of another; not a slave or not in prison. 

Freedom
the condition of being free; liberty; independence. Also the condition of being able to use or move about as desired.

Guilty
having done something wrong; being to blame for something. Also judged in court as a wrongdoer.

Human
having to do with or belonging to people in general.

Innocent
not guilty of some crime or sin; blameless.

International
having to do with two or more countries.

Law
all the rules that tell people what they must or must not do, made by the government of a city, state, nation, etc.

Nation
a group of people living together in a certain area under the same government; state; country. 

Nationality
the condition of belonging to a certain nation by having been born there or by having been made a citizen of it. Also a national group, especially of immigrants in their new country. 

Non-governmental
(NGO) not governmental. NGOs are groups that are not part of the government but usually work with the government to improve things in the world.

Prejudice
deciding something about someone, especially bad, before knowing them. Disliking someone without a good reason, especially disliking them because of what they look like, where they are from or what group they are a part of, without actually knowing anything about them.

Prison
a place where people are kept locked up. Also a building with cells for locking up people who have done crimes or people awaiting a trial.

Privacy
the state or condition of being free from being observed or disturbed by other people.

Rights
something you are allowed to be. Something you are allowed to do or receive; a freedom to do something.

Roosevelt, Eleanor
wife of former U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. She was in charge of the group that made the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Search warrant
a paper given by a court that gives people like the police permission to search someone's property.

Slavery
slave (a person owned by another person who has no freedom at all), a condition of being a slave; bondage.

Social security
a governmental system that provides benefits to retired persons, the unemployed, and the disabled. Also any government system that provides money assistance to people with inadequate or no income.

Tolerance
the accepting of the differing views of other people and fairness toward the people who hold these different views.

Torture
the act of greatly hurting someone on purpose, as a punishment or to cause the person to confess to something.

Trade union
An organized group of workers in a trade (a skilled job, typically one requiring skills and special training), group of trades, or profession, formed to protect and further their rights and interest.

Trial
the act of hearing a case in a law court to decide whether a claim or charge is true. Also a formal examination of evidence by a judge, typically before a jury, in order to decide guilt in a case.

United
joined together in one; combined. Also joined together for a common purpose, or by common feelings.

Universal
of, for, or by all people; concerning everyone.

Wage
money paid to an employee for work done.