What's Going On? - Child Soldiers in Sierra Leone
print resourcePosted by: Fountain of Mercy Partner: Fountain of Mercy
Theme: Environmental Issues;Health;Womens Empowerment;Other;teaching Age Group: 6-12;post-secondary Date Added: April 26, 2012
Summary
An excellent resource for lesson plans on the use of child soldiers in Sierra Leone.
Intended Audience
High School - Post-Secondary Students
Materials Needed
The following link: www.un.org/works/goingon/soldiers/lessonplan_soldiers.html
Also, use of a computer, television, and an atlas would be helpful.
The above site is an excellent supplement to reading of A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah, a former boy soldier in Sierra Leone.
Objectives
This lesson presents an overview of where, why, how, and in what conditions children are used as child soldiers. Students will identify the physical and emotional challenges that child soldiers face. Students will study the efforts by the international community to eliminate children from armed conflict and strategies they are using to integrate children back into their communities.
Main Content
What's Going On: Child Soldiers in Sierra Leone is an excellent resource for student understanding of the use of child soldiers, in Sierra Leone and around the world. It provides thorough discussion questions and background of the role of Human Rights groups, related legislation, and how students can become involved in combating the use of child soldiers around the world.
Evaluation:
Write a response to the lesson's focus questions: How big a problem is the use of child soldiers today?
Answers should include: Geographic distribution; number of children involved in armed conflict; the number of conflicts in which children have participated in; the type of activities child soldiers are expected to do.
Have students read the personal stories of child soldiers. Examine the readings to find the emotional, psychological, and physical effect that war has on children. Identify the reasons why children end up in such predicaments. Ask students to respond to the question: Are child soldiers victims or victimizers?
Research and report about the work of NGO's that are working to end the use of child soldiers.
The International Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers
http://www.child-soldier.org
The U.S. Campaign to Ban the Use of Child Soldiers
http://www.us-childsoldiers.org
Human Rights Watch
http://www.hrw.org/campaigns/crp/index.htm
Kids Can Free the Children
http://www.freethechildren.com/youthinaction/war_affected_children.htm
Amnesty International - Child Soldiers
http://www.amnestyusa.org/children/soldiers
One World
http://www.oneworld.org/child_rights/ch_war.html
Office of the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Children in Armed Conflict
http://www.un.org/special-rep/children-armed-conflict/English/ChildSoldiers.html
Rapper Emanuel Jal's Trip to Peace
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4950821
Students should be able to form their own groups and contribute to the global effort to stop the use of child soldiers. Divide students into groups of 3-5 and have them come up with the following:
A group name and logo.
The group's mandate and mission statement.
Long and short term goals for the group
.
Other organizations to collaborate with
.
Come up with a PR campaign to inform the school and public about their organization.
Additional Resources
Lesson plans sponsored by War Child International: