Child Soldiers: From Violence to Protection

Michael Wessells is a wonderful author and even more wonderful as a human. I went to Randolph-Macon college and had the change to take a class with him. I remember leaving class frequently in tears at the things that occur in other parts of the world. I would be upset at an increase in tuition and the thought of student loans, and the lecture would be child soldiers and infants as rape victims in war zones. While reading, I can hear him and feel like I sitting around the table in the psyc classroom - Mike never lectured from the front of the room. The whole class sat around the table and had a discussion format. Again, heart changing book by a world changing professor.

The topic of child soldiers has now received the attention it deserves. Beah's moving book of his experience as a child soldier in Sierra Leone has now opened the eyes of many. For those who want to know more, Wessells' book takes us into the lives of children worldwide -- Sri Lanka, Angola, Columbia, East Timior, Afghanistan and more. Child soldiering is complex, and the author takes us into the many ways children are recruited, the roles they play, and the facets of their day-to-day lives. Especially compelling are the voices of children, woven in throughout the book. In the end, practical guidance is given -- there is hope for concerned citizens who want to bring an end to the exploitation of children who are forced to serve in the wars of adults.

This book is a "must read" for anyone interested in the complex situation of child soldiers. The book is engaging and compelling, bringing forth the voices and experiences of hundreads of child soldiers from around the world, including Angola, Sierra Leone, Colombia, Uganda, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan. It goes beyond the usual stereotypes of such children as "victims" or "perpetrators", carefully detailing the many and varied roles that children participate in -- from human land mine detectors to caregivers of the babies born into armed groups. The plight of girl soldiers and their unique experiences as mothers at a tender young age -- the result of rape by their abductors who are also their "husbands" -- is eye opening and heart rendering. The book carefully documents the numerous ways children come to be in armed groups (including abduction, fleeing abusive families, volunteering because of ideology, and having no other options because of grinding poverty). Michael Wessells is a psychologist, and writes compellingly of the social and emotional toll that is exacted on these chidlren. He also writes of the children's resilience, and how, despite seemingly insurmountable obstacles, many children actively cope with their situation. In spite of the horrors that these children experience, the book offers hope. It provides moving examples of children re-entering their communities and once again becoming part of the fabric of community life -- as students, as citizens, as peacemakers, and as agents of social change. A far cry from categorizing these children as a "lost generation", the book contends that we have the tools and knowledge to stop the wanton exploitation of children as soldiers, and provides the reader with hopeful strategies and initiatives that have worked.