In this essay am going to discuss the threats and factors that affect children as they grow up in the war zone areas. These children are faced by different challenges that are instrumental to their present and future lives. These include violence, bravery, PTSD, love and forgiveness. The analysis is based on the book “That Mad Game: Growing up in the war zone areas.” This book shows the negative consequences of war especially on children who happens to be the main victim. Several individuals and countries offer excuses for wars that they are involved in. J. L. Powers observes that regardless of how religious or needful the war is, the effects are always negative. Some wars may bear positive results but the negative effects arising are immense.
Childhood has no precise definition, according to this book different cultures come up with different definitions to describe childhood. Some cultures assume that for a person to be considered an adult, the person ought to reach puberty and go through all the initiation rites of the society. Other countries think that a mature person is one who has attained the age of eighteen and has passed through the required education system. To be an adult in the United States, one has to have attained the age of eighteen years. This means that the person possess the right to vote, drive and even marry. Childhood is when a person has passed through the teenage stage and attained the age of eighteen years. This is according to Philip Cole a manor who was became a fighter at the age of eighteen years during the Vietnam War. J. L. Powers expressed childhood as a time when a person has not gone past the teenage years; she lays her description from the experience of Philip Core.
In western countries, childhood is considered to be a protected age where by children are permitted to play without being troubled by anyone, enjoy life with no interference but not indulge in activities considered to be for adults. Children are regularly sufferers of conflicts and violence in several nations and the theory that they are protected from grown-up activities and safe atmosphere does not always happen. According to Charles London’s book “One Day The Soldiers Came: Voices of children in war,” children are always involved in violence activities such as war and only a small percentage of them grow up without experiencing war or being involved in violence activities. Grace Machel (1996) observes that children are susceptible to war activities since they are recruited as soldiers at a very young age with others being used as suicide bombers.
As a result of growing in surroundings that are not secure, countless teenagers have grown to be courageous and even contribute in wars that occur in the countries and communities they live in. This involvement in wars by children was considered a way of bravery as was seen in Kosovo, Yugoslav war (1991-1995). When Charles London played a visit to Kosovo in 1998, many people from Serbia told him the stories of battle that occurred in Kosovo and how they had participated in these wars that led towards independence. These children were not afraid of engaging in wars since they were able to draw pictures of an imagined Kosovo that had independence.
Although children may engage in wars and even be able to narrate the stories of war, they can also do the same thing to peace. Involvement in these wars paints many pictures in the lives of teenagers and children. For this reason, children become victims of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Children who have grown up in warfare environments faces a lot of suffering in their lives, some end up as adoptive children in the United States, others find themselves in a world different from the one they were used to. When these wars occur, they cause the deaths of parents and family members close to the children while others become refugees. The outcome of these wars makes children to go through a lot of psychological torture thus becoming victims of PTSD. It does not matter whether the children fight as soldiers or run away as refuges, at the end they all get affected.
J. L. Powers has shown how suffering and pain is a seed planted by war. The wars carry stories of victory, love, forgiveness and hatred because they are human stories. The hatred that people have towards each other gives birth to wars and battles among human beings in different nations (Law 10). Just the same way hatred spreads, peace, love and forgiveness can also be planted. J. L. Powers believes that through the narratives that people use to describe the war, they can also be used to spread love and forgiveness to people and help them learn who they are to themselves and to other people. Human beings should learn to forgive those who cause them pain and suffering so that they can be able to recover and heal from the trauma.
In conclusion, children are the most affected by wars. Since they may not have any resilience to the war, they suffer the consequences that lead to PTSD. All children should be treasured and not be submitted to such harsh conditions like war because they may not cope with the effects. The book, “That Mad Game” acts like a reminder of the consequences that hatred brings; it also helps to portray the spirit of peace love and forgiveness after highlighting the consequences.