GAHH! I completely forgot about this post..................summer is going to end soon and I don't want that!
Ok, I already posted about Child Soldiers but hey, they are an extremely interesting and dark topic to talk about. In Social Class (seems like a long time ago......), we got in depth with Human Trafficking and Child Soldiers. I get pretty emotional when it came to Human Trafficking. I think that Human Trafficking it utterly disgusting and should be stopped.
Anyways, Child Soldiers are taken from their families between the age 12 to 18. Wait! Before I get into more depth, the class watched clips of the movie, Blood Diamond (Leonardo DiCaprio). I didn't know what to expect from this movie. (May contain spoilers!) We got into the movie and it was really happy but being a person who watches too many movies and cartoons, that scene won't last very long. Movies are just easy to predict!
I had a very bad feeling from the start of the movie because I knew something was coming. I got a bit freaked out because people in tanks just started shooting at random. Just so you know, I'm the type of person that gets emotionally attatched to characters and I seriously feel their pain. The beginning of the movie pretty much scarred me for life. I didn't want to see it anymore but...........Mrs. Shepherd went into the next scene.
You just have to see the movie! You will understand my pain for those people. Did you know that these events are still happening? The movie shows innocent kids are taken by Rebel groups from their homes after their parents or family were just murdered by the Rebel groups. Sometimes, the Rebel groups would just take them without killing someone.
These kids are about seven to twelve. The Rebel groups make these kids into Killing Machines. This is where they get the term, Child Soldiers. These kids are completely, I mean literally, brainwashed to become soldiers. I'm not joking. The movie protrayed that very well, it scared me! Boys and Girls are taken. Often girls are used to be sex slaves to the soldiers. The Rebel groups would try to make these kids their "friends" so they can control them better. You know, to gain their trust. After that, they give them guns and plant lies into their heads like, "Your parents didn't want you", "the government killed them, get revenge".....and stuff like that. They didn't nessassariely make them feel bad but in the end the Rebels called the kids, Men or woman. "You can do whatever you want! No one controls you!"
The most horrific act the Rebels would make the kids do, is kill their loved ones or friends. If the kids fail to kill them, the Rebels would cut off an arm or limb of a kid. My heart just broke when I read that. Also, the Rebels would purposely rub cocaine in the childrens wounds so they go insane and ready to kill anyone in their way. That's low I'd say.....
So, what are Blood Diamonds? I happened to look up what they are! Really interesting stuff! You know what's funny? I'm looking up educational stuff while on summer break........wow. I'm crazy. :P
"Quel prix pour ces diamants?"- means, "What price for those diamonds?" (Good thing I took French!)
Anyways, Blood Diamonds are diamonds that are mined in war areas such as Africa. Rebel groups sell them to fund their armies or whatever. Blood Diamonds are also called Conflict Diamonds because of where they are mined. Innocent people are taken from their homes and forced to mine these diamonds. Many people die or get murdered during the mining process. Conflict Diamonds are also illegal and a huge issue in Sierra Leione, the Congo......and other places in Africa.
I got my information+pictures from these sites!
http://townipproject.wikispaces.com/Blood+Diamonds
http://www.allmoviephoto.com/photo/2006_the_blood_diamond_013.html
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