Children of War

Illustration by Michael DiMilo

By Geoff Carter

In the film Blood Diamond, set during the Civil War in Sierra Leon, a man named Vandy searches for his son Dia who has been kidnapped by rebel forces to serve as a child soldier. Dia has been brainwashed and trained to be a ruthless killer, but Vandy finds the boy and—in an intense scene—is able to convince him not to kill him, that he is his father. While the movie is fictional, the problem of child soldiers is real. Despite the formation of the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict through the United Nations Human Rights Council, countries like Mali, Somalia, Afghanistan, Myanmar, and more still use children as young as eleven or twelve as combatants. 

This of course is a brutal and despicable practice. To expose children to the violence and stress of warfare is unconscionable, but that is not only an international problem. In the United States, over 390,000 children have been exposed to gun violence in schools. At least three million children are exposed to shootings each year. Over 4,300 American children are killed by guns each year (Everytown Research and Policy). These are casualty numbers that are appalling. At least the child soldiers in other countries can fight back. Our children are only targets. 

I do not agree with those lawmakers who suggest arming teachers or school administrators is the solution, and I would never suggest arming our kids. More guns is never the answer. 

Our American gun problem has been here forever. It’s never really gone away, but it has recently been eclipsed by the brutal totalitarianism and ruthless cruelty of our present presidential administration. When a gunman opened fire in a lecture hall at Brown University a few days ago, this cancer on our society—on our children—once again came into crystal-clear focus. It was especially appalling because two of the students on the Brown campus had been involved in previousschool shootings. One young woman had previously been wounded by a school gunman and survived to live through yet another traumatic day. 

Our children are involuntary veterans of this civil warfare. Some have seen it, lived it, and survived it. Twice. All of them train in active shooter drills at their schools from a very young age. We denigrate and punish countries that engage in the use of child soldiers, while we fail to protect our own children. This is not only the height of moralistic hypocrisy, it is disgusting and sickening. Why do we allow our own children to be led to massacres in their own classrooms and cafeterias? 

Sandy Hook, Columbine, Parkland, Uvalde, Madison, and dozens upon dozens more. It is in our power to stop these massacres. New Zealand did it. After the Christchurch mosque Christchurch mosque shooting that killed 51 and wounded 89 others, the New Zealand legislature passed strict new laws banning semi-automatic weapons less than a month afterwards, but American lawmakers, beholden to the powerful gun lobby, refuse to do anything after dozens of these massacres.

In America, guns can be bought online, delivered to your doorstep, and easily modified to become automatic weapons capable of firing hundreds of rounds a minute. To maintain that weapons like these are necessary for hunting is simply ridiculous. They are designed to murder and nothing less. 

On December 14, 2012, thirteen years and a few days ago, the horrific mass shooting at Sandy Hook that killed twenty-six people, including twenty first graders. Many felt this was the breaking point, that lawmakers would have to act after this. Nope. Not after this, not after Uvalde, and not after Parkman—and these were just the school shootings. Local municipalities and school boards have taken action; somebody had to. Metal detectors, security guards, and active shooter protocols are everywhere. 

Our children are at risk, more likely to die of gun violence than any other cause, yet our legislators still do nothing. They hem and haw, send out their useless and mundane thoughts and prayers, and collect their cuts from the gun lobby. 

If our representatives fail to protect our children, and they have been failing miserably for years, perhaps we should look to alternative means to protect our children. 

Maybe bringing child soldiers from foreign states to attend American schools would be a deterrent. They could sit in classrooms like regular students but use their highly specialized training to deal with any would-be attackers. And they’d get an education in the bargain. Our students would be exposed to a narrow and violent range of international sensibilities; maybe the new students could teach them a few things about self-defense. 

Of course, with the recently imposed restrictions on immigration, there might be some difficulties bringing armed children from war-torn countries onto our shores, but I’m sure the Republican majority in Congress would find a way. And I’m sure the new emigres would be delighted in the wide range and deadly efficiency of American firearms. 

Or perhaps being forced to run through weekly active shooter drills might persuade our senators and representatives to take meaningful action. Or not. Of course, they lived through the January 6^th riot at the Capitol, but (unlike our children) they were protected by the brave men and women of the Capitol Police force. Our sons and daughters do not enjoy such protections. They are not nearly so important as the politicos and their millionaire friends who have decided to turn a blind eye to the piles of dead and dismembered children. 

What will it take? Not scores and scores of babies being massacred. Not some of our best and brightest young people having to live through multiple shooter attacks at their schools. Not shooters killing worshipers in churches, synagogues, and shoppers in grocery and department stores. 

The government can do it. They’ve done it in the past. They pull dangerous products off the shelves every day. They pulled the Ford Pinto and the Chevy Corvair off the road because they were dangerous. They severely restricted the marketing of tobacco products. They even outlawed lawn darts. Why can’t they restrict the distribution of high-powered firearms? 

New Zealand did it. Australia is already talking about enacting tougher legislation after their recent shooting in Sydney at Bondi Beach. We can do it, too, and we can do it without enlisting or developing child soldiers. School doors shouldn’t have to be locked, and children shouldn’t have to live in fear during the school day. 

If we are truly a civilized nation, we have to protect our weakest members, our children. We have to protect our most precious resource—our children. 

We have become immune to the horrors of these shootings and we can no longer afford to sit by and watch ourselves descend into the mire of fear and violence; otherwise, we may find ourselves surrounded by our own brand of child soldiers. 

Notes

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children_in_the_military
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optional_Protocol_on_the_Involvement_of_Children_in_Armed_Conflict
3. https://www.sandyhookpromise.org/resources/gun-violence-facts/#:~:text=1.,we%20can%20end%20school%20shootings.
4. https://everytownresearch.org/maps/gunfire-on-school-grounds/#:~:text=When%20it%20comes%20to%20how,engage%20in%20criminal%20activity.%205
5. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8547820/#:~:text=In%20March%202019%2C%20a%20mass,to%20achieve%20than%20gun%20control.
6. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8547820/#:~:text=In%20March%202019%2C%20a%20mass,to%20achieve%20than%20gun%20control.
7. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/10/world/asia/new-zealand-guns-jacinda-ardern.html#