The image above is a "word cloud." A word cloud (or tag cloud) is a visual representation of a set of words. In this case, the size of the words is in proportion to how frequently they appeared in the set (the colors are random). I drew the set from the responses you all submitted in response to the child soldiers presentation by Group #2 (Jeremy, Vishal, John & David).
To create the image, I used the Wordle tool. You can design word clouds of your own: just click on the Wordle link and enter a URL or a word list.
Feel free to share in the comments any thoughts you might have about this terrible issue.
It really is just terrible the situations that these children are put in. One word that comes to mind is "deplorable." These children have few options and almost no future. Unfortunately, there is little we can do to stop it without resorting to violence. - Jeremy McMillan
ReplyDeleteI think that it was terrible. All those poor poor poor poor children that are getting brutally assaulted. Only one word comes to mind. #KONY2012
ReplyDeleteI think it is absolutely sickening that people are abusing and manipulating these vulnerable children. THese people are scaring the next generation's lives, hopes, dreams, and endangering the future.
ReplyDeleteI have no words to demonstrate how I feel about this terrible issue. Who could ever do such things? A word that comes to my mind, is inexcusable. Anyways, something big has to be done in order to stop this... By the way, the cloud looks really cool! -Ces Escobedo
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of problems with child warfare - for example, children are often not treated properly, don't get a full education and, therefore, hurt the following generations. The worst part is, though, that using children are "economical," as leaders can pay them less and they won't rise up - generals don't have a reason not to use them yet. Increasing the standards of living in many situations does the trick, but this means a lot of foreign investment and a boost in the economy, which in many places in Africa isn't possible at the moment.
ReplyDelete-Vishal Ravi
I agree with Vishal; although it may seem economical to use child soldiers, it is detrimental to their cause. If these war groups actually made progress in their country, not just by control, but by improving the quality of life in their respective regions, they would not have to take child soldiers. Adults would volunteer because now that they have an inclination to do so. This would also give these groups respect internationally for neglecting their barbaric measures.
ReplyDeleteOn the issue of child soldiers I feel very angry that abuses against children go on every single day. These children have no idea what a "good" life is as the are brainwashed from a young age. These children also are taken away from their parents from a young age and will never feel the love they deserve. Also drugs play a huge part in the life of a child soldier, as they are given to them as rewards and even to make them obedient. Overall using child soldiers is inhumane and the international community should intervene to protect these children.
ReplyDeleteI like Ces' word choice of "inexcusable"- I agree with it wholeheartedly. I have a comment that is related to Rafael's and perhaps some others'. While we have every right to be disgusted and angry over what these children are going through, we should also remember that they don't necessarily know any better. Living a relatively safe, well-off lifestyle in the United States, it is natural that we immediately regard this practice as wrong, unjust, inhumane, etc., because it is. But for children in the countries where child soldiers are most prominent, it is possible that they don't know of a better life than becoming a soldier. They don't necessarily know of getting a full education-it's possible that children who don't become soldiers don't get along much better in their quality of life. Also, children are impressionable, so if the "recruiters" have learned how to work the children's psyche, they may be able to convince the children at an early stage that they don't need their parents, to the point where they are able to detach themselves (and, as we discussed, shoot them). Will this have implication down the road if the children get a chance to grow older? Yes. Every element of their lives will be altered, largely for the worst.
ReplyDeleteWe were talking about relative/absolute gains on the international level in class. For the most part, on the individual scale, we all work from a relative gains outlook; what you have is great until your neighbor gets something better. For these children, they may look from an absolute gains perspective; they know what they had before and after they were a child soldier, and through this they try to better their situation as much as possible