Blog four- slowly dying

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger is an awful saying, to be blunt. Being forced to kill another human being will not make you stronger, but more numb and apathetic. Which I think we all can agree are not good things. Ishmael's friend Saidu talks about dying slowly every time he kills someone else, this is not building him up but tearing him down. Every time he has to kill someone, he becomes less and less fazeed by it and he loses his human connection. What makes us alive and human is our human connection to each other and our emotions. when you lose a part of that you become less human, and, in theory, dead. The feelings Saidu is having are completely natural and come with this sort of horrific event. Some things, yes, can make you stronger, like standing up to a bully. But nothing on this scale could ever benefit the "participant".

Blog three- trust issues

Trust issues are very easily created and very hard to out grow in human nature. When one person does something to loose your trust, it is very hard for you to trust them again. If multiple people do the same thing to loose your trust, your over all trust in humanity plummets like submarine. For example, if I told my friend a secret that she then told other people, I wouldn't trust her with another of my secrets. Now lets say I told my other friend a different secret and they told other people too! I would, in turn, not trust anyone with my secrets, even if I had never met them. Beah experiences this same sort of thing on a much larger and more sensitive scale. After seeing how absolutely horrific many people are to each other, he doubted that anyone was good anymore. After seeing how many of those people use to be on his side, he doubted will power. And after seeing what he was capable of, he doubted himself.

Blog post two

Ishmael Beah is going through a very devistating part of his life and doesn't/ can't see the future looking very bright. When you are in that sort of situation, you attempt to escape to happier things. Some people look for the happy things around them, others hold on to hope in the future. Beah, thought of his childhood. He remembered being happy then and was happy when thinking of a particular time or place in his past. Little reminders, like the moon, help him stay grounded and remember his past. I actually do the same thing when I am going through a tough time. I think of my past when the world was beautiful and there was no such thing as poverty, war, lonileness, hunger, and my world seemed perfect.

Soldier child documentary response

In class we were given a documentary to watch at home called "Soldier Child" by Neil Abramson. When I first sat down to watch this, I was not prepared. I always knew this was a serious issue and I always thought it was terrible, but I did not realize just how terrible it truly is. These kids absolutely can not put up any resistance or refusal to task's given to them or they will be killed. And the tasks they are given are worse then murder, if you can believe it. They are made to kill family members and friends with hoes, Ak-47's, and sometimes, just their fists. One story that stood out to me was of Simon, age 11, and his first day in the army. He was abducted at 7 in the morning and pulled along by a rope while they collected more people. Two children showed resistance and they killed the both, one with a gun, and the other they kicked until his heart stopped beating. This documentary has really opened my eyes to the horror in this world and if you haven't seen it, I suggest you do.

First blog

This is my blog. My name is Katie and I am a junior in high school. I created this blog purely for a class I am taking about child soldiers in Africa that involves 21st century learning (A way to incorparate technology in the classroom). I will be posting assignments and comments, if you are in the class (A.M or P.M) feel free to comment or critique. The end.