Child Soldiers
"The question of children and armed conflict is an integral part of the United Nations' core responsibilities for the maintenance of international peace and security, for the advancement of human rights and for sustainable human development."
Secretary-General Kofi Annan in a speech to the Security Council, 26 July 2000
In every part of the world, children more particularly from underdeveloped or developing countries are selected and recruited by various groups, for instance the armed forces, terrorist groups and opposition groups at war; these recruited children are then trained to become fighters and exploited enough to become commandoes. Children posses a vulnerable personality, hence they can be easily molded and manipulated into committing serious crimes for instance atrocious crimes like rape and murder of innocent civilians, they carry around rifles such as AK-47's and G4's as if they were born with it. To test their loyalty with their group they are sometimes…...
mlaReferences
Al Arjani, S.E., Thabet, A.A., & Vostanis, P. (2008). Coping strategies of traumatized children lost their father in the current conflict. Arabpsynet e. Journal: N_ 18&19 -- Spring & summer, 226 -- 237.
Baker, A. (1999). Effects of political and military traumas on children: The Palestinian case. Clinical Psychology Review, 19, 935 -- 950.
Caffo, E., & Belaise, C. (2003). Psychological aspects of traumatic injury in children and adolescents. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 12, 493 -- 535.
Dybdahl, R. (2001). Children and mothers in war: An outcome study of a psychosocial intervention program. Child Development, 72, 1214 -- 1230.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child, established a legal and ethical instrument for promoting and protecting the rights of children. The International Community responded enthusiastically to the Convention, and that type of broad participating "symbolizes something very special about the Convention, something that gives it unique importance and authority."
Carol Bellamy with UNICEF believes that this support for the Convention suggests that human rights, particularly child rights, have gained a growing importance in the International Community.
However, the existing legal standards are painfully inadequate for protecting children's rights. First, the United States, still one of the world's superpowers, has failed to give full support to the efforts to keep children from being soldiers. This makes the United States the only recognized country in the world besides Somalia that has failed to ratify the Convention. Despite the U.S.'s failure to ratify it, the Convention was still the "single most widely ratified…...
mlaWorks Cited
Amnesty International. "Burundi: Armed Groups Kill without Mercy." Amnesty.org. 1996.
Amnesty International. 26 May 2009 .
Bellamy, Carol. "10th Anniversary of the Adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child." Unicef.org. 1999. Unicef. 26 May 2009
Children's Literature - Hardy Boys and Encyclopedia Brown
The Shore oad Mystery
On page 12 of The Shore oad Mystery there is moment of potential stress between brothers Joe and Frank, and their Aunt Gertude, over the boys' bad move of tracking in dirt on mother's freshly vacuumed carpet. In any family, boys (and fathers) especially are prone to forget to take their shoes off (in the winter it's snow and ice; in the spring, summer and fall, it's dirt, mud, and leaves). "Frank and Joe! Look at yourselves!" their aunt barked out. And when Joe compliments his aunt of the aroma of food cooking, she urges him not to "change the subject" (a ploy boys are quite adept at), but soon she sees Joe's skinned arm and bruised forehead and notices Frank's limp (the result of the accident), and her tone changes.
The brothers loved their aunt and knew that beneath her…...
mlaReferences
Dixon, Franklin W. The Shore Road Mystery. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1964.
Sobol, Donald J. Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Sleeping Dog. New York:
Delacorte Press, 1998.
In spite o the accusations of being a misogynist and encouraging the young minds to embrace such theories related to gender stereotypes, Polly and Diggory, the first two children to populate the series, are far from impersonating stereotypes. Polly appears to be a smart and sensitive young girl, wiser to some degree than her friend, Diggory. In opposition to the children who regardless of their gender, seem to share similar degrees of intelligence, courage and common sense, the adults they describe as part of their reality are more likely to express what to some degree could be the result of certain personal convictions of the author in the two fields of gender that are not very flattering for women in general.
Nevertheless, the novels of the Chronicles are valuable, among other things, because of their potential to enchant, keep the reader interested and intrigued all the way up to the very…...
mlaLewis CS. Dorsett LW. Mead, ML C.S. Lewis' Letters to Children. Simon and Schuster, 1996
Hooper W.C.S. Lewis: A Complete Guide to His Life & Works. HarperCollins, 1998
Lindsley a.C.S. Lewis: His Life and Works. C'S. Lewis Institute. Discipleship of Heart and Mind. Last updated on Tue, 2009-09-29. Available at: http://www.cslewisinstitute.org/cslewis/index.htm
Globalization and Social/Human Injustices
Human slavery/sex trafficking
The menace of slavery and trafficking for purpose of sexual exploitation is a menace that greatly neglected or not talked about by the high and mighty yet it is a problem that ravages families on a daily basis. Across the globe, there are people who benefit from the modern day slavery and there are countries that act as source, most of them being the underdeveloped nations where poverty is high and unemployment is also significantly high. These two factors when combined, often push affected families to willingly or otherwise let go of their daughters into the forced labor or sex slavery in more developed nations. The women and children are the most affected groups in the slavery business since they are the most vulnerable in the society. Against the common belief that slavery is obsolete, the opening up of more borders and easy transportation system…...
mlaReferences
Buchholz T.G., (2007). New Ideas from Dead Economists. An Introduction't Modern Economic Thought. Retrieved December 10, 2014 from http://www.docdroid.net/miuc/newideas-deadeconomists.pdf.html
French H.W., (2013). The Not-So-Great Professor: Jeffrey Sachs' Incredible Failure to Eradicate Poverty in Africa. Retrieved December 10, 2014 from http://www.psmag.com/navigation/books-and-culture/smart-guy-jeffrey-sachs-nina-munk-idealist-poverty-failure-africa-65348/
Gates Foundation, (2012). Theo Sowa: We Need the Voices of African Women-TEDxChange. Retrieved December 10, 2014 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfIQgPb7pQs
ForaTv, (2008). Muhammad Yunus: The Social Business Model. Retrieved December 10, 2014 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0C3XQ3BTd4o
soldiers who fought in World War II and Vietnam. The writer illustrates many of the differences as well as similarities in the two war soldiers and uses movies and book sot underscore the point. There were four sources used to complete this paper.
The life of soldiers during times of combat has often been compared. It seems that many people believe all experiences of war are identical and if a soldier is in one war, then his experiences were identical to the experiences of a soldier in a different war. At first glance there is some merit to this mind set. Many experiences are the same without regard to the war in question. Soldiers who have to kill, and those who go through boot camp have similar training. While there are many similarities in the soldiers of war and their experiences there are also many differences. These differences are founded…...
mlaReferences
O'Brien, Tim (1999). If I Die in a Combat Zone: Box Me Up and Ship Me Home
Broadway Books; ISBN: 0767904435; Reprint edition (August 31, 1999)
Stone, Oliver. (1986). Platoon
Rodat, Robert (1998).Saving Private Ryan.
"Red fangs have torn His face. / God's blood is shed."
In contrast, the German soldier August Stramm presents words in rapid-fire succession in his poem "ar grave." The poem's list is designed to hit the reader like a round of gunfire. Instead of the crafted image of the snow that begins Rosenberg's poem, Stramm merely says: "Flowers impudent/Dust shyly./Flare/ater/Glast/Forgotten." The impudent flowers mock the sacrifice of the men who lie amongst the dust. There is a flare in the background, the flowers are watered by rain, and time goes on as men are forgotten. Not a single wasted word exists in this tribute to the waste of young life.
Ideologically, the great difference between Rosenberg's conventional ode to the dead and Stramm's symbolic work is the presence of God: in Rosenberg's poem, God is a palpable presence: "He mourns from His lone place/His children dead." For Stramm, there is no…...
mlaWorks Cited
Rosenberg, Isaac. "On receiving news of war." First World War. January 19, 2010.
http://www.firstworldwar.com/poetsandprose/rosenberg.htm
Stramm, August. "Attack." First World War. January 19, 2010.
Westerns soon developed into a staple of TV land. The independence and strength of the characters epitomized the ideals that made America so unique. Families sat down with their TV dinners to watch such shows as " Gunsmoke," the Lone Ranger," the Rifleman," Have Gun, Will Travel," and " Maverick." You were not anybody unless you could sing the theme songs of each show.
Moviegoers were also being drawn into the theaters by the monster/science-fiction movies. About 500 film features and shorts were produced under this broad theme in the 1950s and early 1960s, explains the 50s B-Movie website. ne might argue convincingly that never in the history of motion pictures has any other genre developed and multiplied so rapidly in so brief a period. As Paul Michael comments, "n a sheer statistical basis, the number of fantasy and horror films of the 1950s... has not been equaled in any country…...
mlaOur American Century: The American Dream, the 1950s.. Editors of Time Life. Richmond-Virginia, Time Life, 1997.
Ross, Kelly. Existentialism. 2003. Retrieved from website April 19, 2005. http://www.friesian.com/existent.htm
Western Movie Encyclopedia. Western Movie. Retrieved from website April 18, 2005. http://www.localcolorart.com/search/encyclopedia/Western_movie
parent with a young child and a demanding job -- whether it is a mother or a father -- has challenges that a family with both parents on board does not experience, in most cases. And when you add to the equation the fact that the single parent in this case is a male in the U.S. Army, there are complications and serious work-life balance issues to be addressed. After all, the health and care of the child in question must be at the top of the list of priorities, along with the employment of the father and the balance of the conflicting challenges and issues.
As a single dad with a young child, I already face challenges when it comes to raising my child, providing a good home and good health for the child; but in addition I am in the U.S. Army and my duties and responsibilities necessarily…...
mlaWorks Cited
Britt, T.W., Adler, A.B., and Castro, C.A. (2006). Military Life: The military family. Chicago,
IL: Greenwood Publishing Group.
Lieke, L, Brummelhuis, T., and Van Der Lippe, T. (2010). Effective Work-Life Balance
Support for Various Household Structures. Human Resource Management, 49(2), 173-193.
Moreover, it is unclear whether Jim has attempted to reestablish any meaningful contact with his children; rather, his entire focus has been on becoming a better person. While there is certainly nothing wrong with that goal in and of itself (it is, after all, a universal human quality), he appears to have pursued this goal to the total exclusion of making any substantive reparations to his family. Finally, it is interesting that Jim somehow feels compelled to tell others -- including potential employers -- about his criminal past and his current status in treatment, as if this ongoing commitment to all-out honesty somehow absolves him from a deceptive and duplicitous history, or at least helps to explain it (which it does if one is interested). According to Jim, "Entering into society again was very difficult. I had lost my business, my friends and was now divorced. After leaving jail, I…...
mlaReferences
Black's law dictionary. (1991). St. Paul, MN: West Publishing Co.
Bryant, J.K. (2009, June). School counselors and child abuse reporting. Professional School
Counseling, 12(5), 130-132.
Bryant, J. & Milsom, a. (2005, October). Child abuse reporting by school counselors.
Military Children and the Effects of Long Deployments on Them
Over the last several years, the children of parents who are serving in the military are facing increasing amounts of scrutiny. This is because one or both of their parents are being sent on long deployments to Afghanistan. These shifts are directly resulting in them and their caregivers having to make dramatic adjustments. (Wells, 2012)
According to a study conducted by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), they found that their ability to adjust will involve the family situation, age and their environment. These factors are leading to some adapting more effectively than others. Evidence of this can be seen with observations from the report which says, "Children's reactions to deployment-related parental absence vary by age, developmental stage, and other individual and family factors. While young children are likely to exhibit externalizing behavior such as anger and attention difficulties, school-age children demonstrate…...
mlaReferences
Report on the Impact of Deployment. (2010). Military One Source. Retrieved from:
http://www.militaryonesource.mil/12038/MOS/Reports/Report_to_Congress_on_Impact_
of_Deployment_on_Military_Children.pdf
Baker, L. (2009). Developmental Issues Impacting Military Families. Military Medicine, 174 (1),
For example, Leventhal (2001) analyzed different intervention methodology and implementation of home-based services aimed at preventing abuse and neglect as well as promoting the health and development of the infant and mother, by specifically looking at the Healthy Families Olds' models.
Kass and colleagues (2003) from Fight Crime: Invest in Kids argue that the cycle of violence can be prevented with intervention methods including parenting education. oberts, Wolman and Harris-Looby (2004, p. 101) state that "teaching students parenting skills may be the most cost-effective way to reduce violent and abusive behaviors and prevent the transfer of violent behaviors from generation to generation." They found that for less than $1,000, Project Baby Care, a parental training program developed for adolescents proved successful in improving parental knowledge and skills and attitudes toward caring for an infant.
Another study (Hughs & Gottlieb, 2004), regarding the effects of the Webster-Stratton parenting program on parenting skills…...
mlaReferences
Belsky, J. & Vondra, J. (1989), 'Lessons from child abuse: The determinants of parenting', in D. Cicchetti & V. Carlson (Eds), Child Maltreatment: Theory and Research on the Causes and Consequences of Child Abuse and Neglect, New York: Cambridge University Press, 153-202.
Chalk, R. & King, P.A. (Eds) (1998), Violence in Families: Assessing Prevention and Treatment Programs, Washington DC: National Academy Press,
Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) (U.S.), Administration on Children, Youth, and Families (ACF). Child maltreatment 2003. Washington (DC): Government Printing Office; 2005. Website retrieved May 10, 2007 www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/pubs/cm03/index.htm.
Fine, M.J. (1980), Handbook on Parent Education, Academic Press, New York.
The plight of American born children forced to reside outside of the United States because of their dependent and minority age statuses, begs the question of whether or not these children, if raised in third world countries like Mexico, Nicaragua, or Columbia, can ever achieve the promise of the American dream upon return to the United States, which has, in their absence, become foreign to them, and they foreign amongst their peer group?
The subject of immigration, especially that which moves daily across the Mexican-American border, is an emotional and tense issue, and one into which a new breath of life is breathed during every presidential election. There is no denying the economic impact of illegal immigration on the United States; it is a serious problem. This, however, does not make it acceptable to wreak potential economic havoc on a U.S. born citizen that is, on an individual level, just as…...
mlaReference List
Rodriguez, Gregory (2008). Mongrels, Bastards, Orphans and Vagabonds: Mexican
Immigration and the . Random House Publishing, New York, NY. Book.
Simon, Julian Lincoln (1999). The Economic Consequences of Immigration, University
of Michigan. Book.
message to people in our society that professional baseball players and other athletes make more than soldiers in combat. This message must be fundamentally questioned, given the disproportionate degree of significance we give to the careers of athletes. Big name athletes are touted as role models, while ordinary soldiers are largely ignored, or at best given a few words in print if they distinguish themselves heroically in combat. The discrepancy between the utility of certain occupations such as soldiers and nurses, versus occupations such as professional baseball players and entertainers, and the disproportionate salaries made by the latter have caused many to question the fairness of how salaries are allocated within our society. Many of the arguments cited in favor of professional athletes' salaries could easily apply to other high-risk professions. This paper argues in favor of reducing baseball players' salaries through more aggressive salary caps as a way…...
mlaWorks Cited
Donovan, John. "Soldiers say it is hard to return to civilian life." Talk of The Nation. NPR.
10 Oct 2011. [20 Feb 2013]
http://www.npr.org/2011/10/10/141213271/soldiers-say-its-hard-to-return-to-civilian-life
Johnson, Catlin. "Why do baseball players make so much money?" CBS News. 11 Feb 2009.
Irony in "Soldier's Home" -- Irony is a device used by writers to let the audience know something that the characters in the story do not know. There is usually a descrepancyt between how things appear and the reality of the situation. Often the characters do not seem aware of any conflict between appearances and the reality, but the audience or reader is aware of the conflict because the writer has used irony in the story. Whatever the emotion of the story is, irony heightens it.
There is a strong element of irony in Ernest Hemingway's painful story "Soldier's Home." Harold, who served in the Army in World War I on the bloodiest battlefields, comes home too late to be welcomed as a hero. We know he needed to be treated as a hero (because he makes up lies about himself) but the townsfolk and his parents do not. While Harold…...
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now