Ishmael Beah: A Child Soldier

A young author by the name of Ishmael Beah was once a child soldier. Ishmael grew up having the average childhood life. But by the age of twelve, Ishmael was separated from his family when the rebels attacked his town. His family had fled to another village that had been already destroyed. by the time Ishmael got to where his family was, it was too late because he saw death right before his very eyes. Ishmael then went to military base to find safety but ended up being recruited into war. he was forced to take drugs that would make him numb in order to kill others. Ishmael grew up with a very rough and tragic childhood life but he was later blessed with another mother who was glad to look after Ishmael.

Connection to previous learning: The story of Ishmael's life reminds me of a movie we watched last year called "Blood Diamond". In that movie, Solomon Vandy is captured by the rebels when they invade a small village in Sierra Leone. Solomon's son Dia, is forced into the rebels where he is eventually brainwashed to kill others. Ishmael was recruited by the rebels in Sierra Leone similar to how Dia was forced into the rebels. they both were eventually forced to kill.

Connection to "Teaching Kids to Kill": Fourteen year old Michael Corneal was involved in a school shooting but he had never before picked up a real gun in his life. Ishmael Beah was twelve years old when he first fired a gun. Both of these boys have one thing in common which is that they both learned to kill. While Ishmael Beah was brainwashed by the rebels, Michael Corneal learned it from video games and media violence.

Challenges: Although Ishmael Beah has wrote a book about his life, is he still engaged in the rebels way of life or has he put that behind him to start a new life?

Concepts: Some of the key concepts that I learned from the interview is that life can change with the blink of an eye. One minute you could be surrounded by the love of your family and the next minute you could be desperately looking for that love once again.

Changes: I think the changes that this interview suggests is that you should cherish the time you have with your loved ones because you never know where life can take you and every day may be your last.