The Effects of War on Young Children

My Relationship to This Issue

Unfortunately, I have experienced what it is like to send a loved one off to war, not once...but 4 times!  My husband is a Warrant Officer in the United States military and has served his country proudly for the last 12 years.  Though, with his courageous service comes the sacrafice that our young children face everytime he is sent to war.  My children, three young boys (7 yrs, 6 yrs, and 18 months) have been away from their father for more than 4 1/2 years of the 7 years that my oldest has been alive! That is more than half his life!  They are proud of their father, but it doesn't go without issues, frustrations, and challenges.  My children have each experienced more stress then a child should at their young age, they have struggled with depression, mood changes, academic struggles, and behaviorial issues when their dad leaves, throughout deployment, and even when he returns.  When their dad comes home, life does not just return to normal, we all have a period of adjustment, depression, attitudes, and testing the parental boundries all over again and again!  It is exhausting, but a life that we have chosen.  "Children's reactions to a parent's deployment vary by child, and more broadly, by a child's developmental stage, age, and presence of any preexisting psychological or behavioral problems. Very young children may exhibit separation anxiety, temper tantrums, and changes in eating habits. School-age children may experience a decline in academic performance, and have mood changes or physical complaints. Adolescents may become angry and act out, or withdraw and show signs of apathy" (US Department of Veterans Affairs, 2009).

My children may not have chosen the military life, but we are trying to provide the best and most loving environment that we can!  There are also many resources through the military such as MilitaryOneSource.com, medical treatment centers and guidance (mental, physical, and spiritual) and through local childcare programs, camps, etc. The military is very good about providing many resources, activities, and support to families before, during, and after deployments.  What other children around the world experience due to the effects of war are far more devastating and tragic than what our family has experienced.  I am going to focus on the effects of war on children in Afghanistan because that is where my husband will be over this next year and he has seen some of these tragic effects first hand!

The Effects of War on Young Children

 After conducting a lot of research on this subject, I was shocked and beyond disturbed by the fact that children as young as eight are recruited to join the Taliban!  Landmines are still a terrible risk for all people and especially children.  Afghanistan, along with Angola and Cambodia, have experienced 85% of the world's land-mine casualties!  "Naturally curious, children are likely to pick up strange objects, such as the infamous toy-like 'butterfly' mines" (unicef.org) I could not even believe that it is estimated (by UNICEF) that everyday, 600 children die in Afghanistan by preventable causes.  Only 15% of the Afghan population even have access to clean water.  "The lasting impact of war on the psychological state of children is well seen here. Many children have post traumatic stress disorder as a consequence of experiencing parental loss in war. Most of the children are left to earn their livelihood and child-labour is common. Most of the children at government orphanage in Kabul are deaf and dumb or blind. Casualties due to landmine blasts are quite frequent. Cases of physical and sexual abuse in girls and boys are also reported" (Prasad, 2008).  With Afghanistan remaining a war torn country, for now, we can only hope that help is in the near future for the children and families that are being tragically affected by the war on a daily basis!  Following my resources, I am posting an article that I found extremely tragic and it may be an eye opener to many that read it!

Resources:

Mahmood, A. (2000). Some tragic figures on children in Afghanistan. The Frontier Post. Retrieved January 29, 2011 from http://www.rawa.org/child-5.htm.

Prasad, Lt Col AN. (2008). War Affected Children in Afghanistan. Short Communication.

UNICEF.org. Impact of Armed Conflict on Children: Land-mines: A Deadly Inheritance. Retrieved January 29, 2011 from http://www.unicef.org/graca/mines.htm.

US Department of Veterans Affairs. (2009). How Deployment Stress Affects Children and Families: Research Findings. National Center for PTSD. Retrieved January 29, 2011 from http://www.ptsd.va.gov/professional/pages/pro_deployment_stress_children.asp.

Some tragic figures on children in Afghanistan

The Frontier Post
October 25, 2000
By Arshad Mahmood

Whenever war broke out in any part of the world it affected the children the most. During the last decade, two million children worldwide have been killed as a result of war, four to five million children have been disabled, 12 million have been left homeless, more than one million orphaned or separated from their parents, and approximately ten million children have been psychologically traumatised as a result of war (UNICEF's The State of World's Children 1996).

The most affected countries regarding the killings of children due to war or its consequences are Afghanistan and Iraq.

In both these countries thousands of children were killed during the war. In Afghanistan only, where a civil war has been continuing for the past 20 years, around 300,000 to 400,000 children have died out of total population of 20 million. In addition, the devastation has contributed to the deaths of thousands of children from hunger and disease.

An American who visited Afghanistan on an official visit in September said that the recent draught has made the situation worse for children in Afghanistan along with the UN sanctions. She said that she felt very uncomfortable while having her meals in Hazarajat area of Afghanistan because of the food situation there. More than 250,000 children are reported dying every year of malnutrition alone in Afghanistan.

Every three hours or so, a child is blown up as a result of more than ten million landmines planted all over Afghanistan. One-third of Afghanistan's landmine victims are estimated to be children (UNOCHA 1999). Those children who survive a trauma of a mine incident are burden on their families and require extensive medical care, rehabilitation and most importantly, economic support throughout their lives.

More than one quarter of Afghan babies do not see their fifth birthday (UNESCO, 1997). According to UNICEF's State of the World's Children Report, Afghanistan has the fourth worst record in under five child mortality, the infant mortality rate being 152 per 1,000 live births. More than a quarter of a million children under five die each year, many more than those caught in armed conflict or killed by mines.

War have several other worse effects on children including loss of parents and other close relatives, many left their education because of poverty, displacements, disabilities, destroyed infrastructure of education etc. Many of the street children have no shelter and are dependent on relatives for a place to stay or they shake up in abandoned houses.

According to a survey conducted by the UNHCR in 1997, there are an estimated 28,000 street children in Kabul, 20 per cent of whom are girls. However with the increase in the number of displaced persons in the country, the figure has risen to more than 35,000. These children are either involved in begging or working on the streets as shoe polishers, or car washers; the purpose being to support their families. The situation of education is also worse, many schools have been destroyed or lost teachers due to Islamisation of education by the Taliban regime, as before Taliban's rule 70 per cent of teachers in Kabul were female. Because of which boy schools are facing high shortage of teachers now. On the other hand those children who are living as refugees with their parents in different parts of Pakistan are also deprived of adequate schooling.

A large number of child labourers in Peshawar are Afghans who are working to give a helping hand to their parents.

Those schools extending educational facilities to refugee children are without basic necessities, which is leading to a poor quality of education. These schools are housed in very dilapidated buildings. In Peshawar recently several children lost their lives because of collapse of a school building. After the incident many Afghan schools were closed by the government due to safety reasons but the question is what would be the future of those children getting education from those schools.

 MJAFI, Vol. 64, No. 1, 2008. Retrieved January 29, 2011 from http://medind.nic.in/maa/t08/i1/maat08i1p65.pdf.