WHAT WERE YOU DOING WHEN YOU

WERE 5 YEARS OLD?

OR MAYBE

HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF CHILDREN ARE USED AS CHILD

SOLDIERS ALL OVER THE WORLD

SOME ARE AS YOUNG AS 5

CHILDREN ARE VULNERABLE BECAUSE OF THEIR EMOTIONAL AND PHYSICAL IMMATURITY.

THEY ARE EASILY MANIPULATED AND DRAWN INTO VIOLENCE THAT THEY ARE TOO YOUNG TO RESIST OR UNDERSTAND.

IT’S NOT JUST BOYS…

IN NEPAL, SRI LANKA AND UGANDA, A THIRD OR MORE OF THE CHILD SOLDIERS WERE REPORTED TO BE GIRLS

GIRLS MAY BE RAPED, OR GIVEN TO MILITARY COMMANDERS AS "WIVES"

MODERN LIGHTWEIGHT WEAPONS AND SMALL ARMS ARE ACCESSIBLE AND SIMPLY OPERATED, ALLOWING CHILDREN TO USE THEM IN PLACE OF ADULTS

CHILD SOLDIERS ARE GIVEN COCAINE AND OTHER DRUGS TO HELP TAKE THE EDGE OFF…MANY BECOME ADDICTED

CHILDREN ARE KILLED AND WOUNDED AT FAR HIGHER RATES THAN THEIR ADULTCOMRADES.

THOSE WHO SURVIVE OFTEN SUFFER TRAUMA, INJURY, ABUSE, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL SCARRING FROM THE VIOLENCE AND BRUTALITY THEY EXPERIENCE.

SOME ARE REJECTED BY THEIR FAMILIES AND COMMUNITIES.

CHILDREN ARE SOMETIMES FORCED TO COMMIT ATROCITIES AGAINST THEIR OWN FAMILY TO HELP ENSURE THAT THE CHILDIS "STIGMATIZED” AND UNABLE TORETURN TO HIS OR HER HOME COMMUNITY.

WHEN THE SURVIORS ARE RE-ENTERED INTO THE REAL WORLD…

• WITHDRAWAL

• DISRUPTIVE BEHAVIOR

• NIGHTMARES

• IRRITABILITY

• REGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR

• PAIN OF NO MEDICAL BASIS

• DEPRESSION

• ANXIETY

• GUILT

• FLASHBACKS

• EMOTIONAL NUMBING

• SUBSTANCE ABUSE

POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER (PTSD) PHYSICALLY ALTERS THE BRAIN OF CHILDREN

SPECIFICALLY THE

HIPPOCAMPUS, PREFRONTAL CORTEX, AND

THE AMYGDALE

THE STORY OF ONE CHILD

SOLDIER

ISHMAEL BEAHAT AGE 11, HE WITNESSED THE DEATH OF

HIS FAMILY

AT AGE 13 HE BECAME A CHILD SOLDIER

IN 1997 ISHMAEL BEAH WAS SAVED BY UNICEF

HE WROTE A BOOK ABOUT HIS EXPERIENCES CALLED A LONG WAY GONE: MEMOIRS OF A BOY SOLDIER

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

VISIT WWW.CHISOL.ORG

FOR MORE INFORMATION