War and its impact on children

 I have personally experienced the affects of two different wars. My first experience of war was when I was just a child. Desert Storm took place when I was about five years old. My family at the time was living on a military base and I was attending a school that was for military children. I was one of the fortunate children, in that my father was never deployed. Even though my father was not deployed my family and I had experienced the stress of war. One of the biggest factors was my family living in a complete different country from my extend family. My memories of holidays consist of my mother, father, and brother. There would be times that we would have to celebrate Christmas or Thanksgiving without my father, because he was working late hours due to the war. I am very grateful that I still had the chance to see my father and hug my him. There were a lot of my friends who were not as fortunate as I was. A lot of my friends had one parent who was deployed. Since my family was so far away from "home," we had developed a new family with our church. The main reason why I was able to still have a great childhood was due to my family and church family. I was able to cope with the many different stress of being a military brat by having other children my age dealing with the same situation around me. I feel that some of the consequences of the different stresses that I dealt with as a child has caused me to be hesitant towards change. I had to constantly deal with change, and now as an adult I want nothing to do with it. Even though the war had some negative affects, it has also had positive ones. I have a great sense of pride and citizenship towards America. I am very thankful for my country because I know from first hand experience what has been sacrificed for me to live here. I understand that Freedom isn't Free. 
When I was a teenage I experienced the beginning of another war. This experience was very different because I did not live on a military base. I remember 9-11 like it was yesterday. I remember President Bush getting on TV and telling the military men to get ready, because they are about to make the citizens of this country very proud! I remember declaring war on terrorism, and wondering what all does that entail for me and my family. I remember my family going through such hardship because my father was in the military. Not everyone was accepting of the fact that America was going to fight terrorism. There would be people who would come up to uniformed military men a spit in their faces and on their shoes. My father would come to my basketball games in his uniform and people would yell and get upset with him. This left a very different taste in my mouth. I had missed being surround by other military families. I was so proud of my father and what he stood for. All of my experience made my pride for my counry and military grow deeper then ever. 

I know this is not the norm. Many children are on the opposite spectrum of war. There children are in areas where war is taking place in their front and back yards. This gives those children a whole different stress level then what I had experienced. There are many children who physically watch their families die in the cross fires of war. One of the countries that is currently experiencing this is Afghanistan. In 2011UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan had reported that there had been 3,021 deaths during that year (ActionAid, 2012). Many of the schools and social places in Afghanistan have been destroyed due to war (ActionAid, 2009). The affects of the schools and social places being destroyed have caused many of the children to not have a place for education or playing (ActionAid, 2009). War has affected the families poverty which in return affects the level of education, nutrition, and health (Wellcome Trust, 2009). There has been stories of young children who have been trained by the government to fight and then turned into soldiers (ActionAid, 2009). Wellcome Trust (2009) had taken a survey of the children in Afghanistan to see the mental affects that war and poverty has had on the children. The results showed that one out of five children are likely to suffer from psychiatric disorders like: extreme anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (Wellcome Trust, 2009). Even though the children have experienced extreme hardship, Wellcome Trust (2009) also "... found that children reported great distress and hardship in their lives. But they also had remarkable strength to function, to get on with their lives, to help their families, and to work and study." It is sad to see how the choices of others causes severe consequences on the most vulnerable. War is a horrible thing, but it is a part of our world and unfortunately always will be. We need to find a way to keep these children out of harms way and to protect them from the consequences of war. 

Resources 

ActionAid. (2009, October 25). Afghanistan's Children of War. Retrieved from http://www.actionaid.org.uk/100581/children_or_war.html

ActionAid. (2012, May 17). NATO Chicago Conference: act now on women's security in Afghanistan. Retrieved from http://www.actionaid.org.uk/103231/nato_chicago_conference_act_now_on_womens_security_in_afghanistan_says_actionaid

Wellcome Trust. (2009, August 21). Afghan school children 'affected by everyday stress as much as war-related trauma.' Retrieved from http://www.welcome.ac.uk/news/2009/news/wtxo5687.htm