Research! Research! Research!! (Entire Summer Vacation)
Introduction To The New Phase! :)
Alright, you now know my motifs, goals and what I plan to achieve over the end of the summer and further on! Now I have come to the time where I have to set things straight! My knowledge for child soldiers is currently weak and I plan to strengthen it with well-defined research. I plan to research on: their environment (socially and physically), an in-depth look on the rehabilitation and re-integration process, a real-life story of an ex-child soldier, how child soldiers effect warfare and the general facts of child soldiers around the world.
In the end, the most eye-catching facts will be presented to the public through a campaign! Eventually, through awareness and fundraising campaigns money would be donated/made and all money goes to an undecided organization/fund that works specifically with child soldiers.
All my research will be cited, and eventually put into MLA form for further references that can be seen as the bottom most paragraph!
In the end, the most eye-catching facts will be presented to the public through a campaign! Eventually, through awareness and fundraising campaigns money would be donated/made and all money goes to an undecided organization/fund that works specifically with child soldiers.
All my research will be cited, and eventually put into MLA form for further references that can be seen as the bottom most paragraph!
Things to Look Out For During My Research (July 6th)
Alright, I have to ask a few questions to myself before I research, as in guiding questions just to help me have a starting base to think about this all!
- What types of facts would help grab attention the attention of the public for the campaign?
- How can I cause pressure on the public into wanting to help or donate for the campaign?
- What organization/fund seems best to send all the money earned in the end?
- Who is going to be the child I will mainly focus on? (I am trying to find a detailed report of one single child that went through the rehabilitation process and became an ex-child soldier).
- Should I focus on a single area or country for my research, and then base my entire campaign on fighting the use of child soldiers for that specific area or the entire world?
Where Should I Start My Research?
My plan for my research: This is just a guide I created so that I could be organised with my information. Not everything has to be done step by step- naturally, I never know what specifically to look for when I'm reading but to take in all the information I can.
- Maybe I should start it on one real campaign with a fully running website and see their facts and stories that they have to tell the public. I could adopt some facts from one campaign's website- each day.
- Afterwards I should start looking at what countries or areas have child soldiers. By then I should start to think about whether or not if I should focus on fighting child soldiers around the world or in one country/area.
- Having made the above decision I could then start looking for the one child that has made it through the rehabilitation process, giving his/her personal feelings and describing the difficulties or moments of realization that they had.
- Study the rehabilitation process and how it is implemented, who does it, in which areas do they provide rehabilitation for child soldiers, if it works all the time for the child to realize that war is wrong, how much money is spent/needed for achieving a successful rehabilitation process for a child.
- Create a small paragraph or speech explaining why we are lucky to be where we are, and that because the world is offering us the best: education, shelter, even clothes, we should try to help those that are not as lucky as us and we should all try our best to give a hand to bring these children, of our age, the same opportunities that we have. This would just be the basics of my final speech which I intend to give to the student body once the campaign is up and running.
War Child: Child Soldier
Child Soldiers Global Report 2008
Once I typed in 'child soldiers' in the Google Search bar the link: http://www.warchild.org.uk/issues/child-soldiers?_kk=war%20child&_kt=7434c198-2807-41bb-b852-b6175608515b&gclid=CLmIzZeigaoCFUK_zAodxUi_zw was one of the very first of the results. Looking through the website I discovered that it was actually a non-profit organization for the rehabilitation and reintegration of child soldiers, mainly focused in Africa. From here I got some key facts and statistics about child soldiers:
- There are an estimated 250,000 child soldiers in the world today.
- Many rebel groups use child soldiers to fight the government, but some governments also use child soldiers in armed conflict.
- Not all children take part in active combat. Some are also used as porters, cooks and spies.
- As part of their recruitment, children are sometimes forced to kill or maim a family member - thus breaking the bonds with their community and making it difficult for them to return home.
- Girls are often used as wives and sex slaves for the male combatants.
- Whilst most child soldiers are abducted or conscripted into the fighting forces, some also volunteer or are volunteered by their parents.
- It is estimated that 40% of all child soldiers are girls. They are often used as 'wives' - i.e. sex slaves.
