1. Ben O’Donnell Jacob Hewgley Logan RidingsO’Donnell 1
Mrs. Lester
Honors 10th Lit.
October 24 2011
Child Soldiers
1. My multi-genre research paper topic
My research topic is the use of child soldiers in the world’s military forces. I want to learn the
reasons behind wanting children to be active military service men or women. I also want to
know the day to day activities these children perform for their countries.
2. What I already know.
The only information I know about this topic is from a book I read for an assignment. The
protagonist of the book was a child soldier in the Sierra Leone armed forces. Ismael Beah is his
name. In the novel Beah describes his position in the military as a executioner. He would often
go into vivid detail describing the hardships he had to go through until UNICEF rescued him from
service. Beah also describes the flashbacks and nightmares that he has had throughout the
years, and one can only imagine what it was like to be in his shoes.
Besides the information from the book, I have gained some basic knowledge of child soldiers. I
already knew that some of the actions these children have been put through are inhumane.
What I also know is that children are subject to sexual abuse from their commanding officers,
and that children are also forced to use habit-forming drugs such as cocaine.

2. O’Donnell 2
3. What I want to learn
There are a couple of things I want to learn about. One of them is the long term effects of being
a child soldiers. I want to know if there are side effects to carrying an assault rifle at an early
age. What the effects of shooting hundreds of bullets at age eight was on one’s growth are
isanotherquestion I want to have answered. I would also like to know what the child thinks
about carrying a gun and being a soldier. Also i wonder what the child’s response would be if an
American child were to think that the ex-soldier was “cool” that the child was killing other
children for no particular reason at all. I want everyone, young and old, to know what these
children have been through.
4. The origins of my research
The reason why I chose to write about this topic is I read a book about an ex-child soldier, and I
wondered if other child soldiers went through the same thing. I was not very thrilled about my
topic at first, but soon i figured this would be an interesting topic to use. The reason why it is
interesting is because it is a big thorn in every government’s side. Some people do not even
know that Americans can sign up for active duty when they turn 17, the only problem is that the
parent needs to sign the child permission. There is also 22 countries who still use children in
their armies, but these countries are located in west Africa. These governments typically do not
have stable governments so this is probably the reason of why there are child soldiers. Finally
children are also used as spies, this topic was very obscure to me.
5. Some questions I have about motivation in reading

3. 1. In those 63 countries, what is the role of a soldier under the age of 18?
2. Why are children used as spies?
3. Why would governments lock up child spies?
4. Why would someone abuse a child
5. What is a seven year old child’s reaction to seeing war and bloodshed?
6. What are the twenty countries that use child soldiers?
7. Why would someone put a child in the line of fire?
8. How come the UN did not put pressure on the 86 who had child soldiers?
9. What was one’s thought process when they decided to use a child as a human shield?
10. Why do people want to use child soldiers?
11. Why a child would be forced to kill his or her own parents and siblings?
12. How can a person force a child to kill another human?
6. My research Plan
My current is to use either Gale Global Issues, or Academic search complete. I do not want to
use opposing viewpoints because this topic is not really controversial. I am also going to watch
interviews of former child soldiers to get their perspective. Most of my sources will be from
Gale Global Issues because this topic is relevant to that database. I will keep track of what I
have learned in graphic organizers to keep myself organized and prepared. Scoop.It will also be
used to see what other people think about the topic. Symbaloo will be useful in keeping me
organized while using the multiple databases.

4. 7. Biography
Betancourt, Theresa Stichick. Sierra Leone’s Former Child Soldiers: A Follow-Up Study of
Psychosocial Adjustment and Community Reintegration. 81 vols. N/A: Blackwell, 2010. N.
pag.Academic Search Complete.Web. 24 Oct. 2011. <http://web.ebscohost.com.proxygsu-
sche.galileo.usg.edu/ehost/detail?sid=5a71b85f-fa36-44ed-a074-
a98aae489f4c%40sessionmgr10&vid=1&hid=14&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#d
b=a9h&AN=52214228>.
Comtex Inc. International Efforts Still Failing Child Soldiers . N/A: n.p., 2008. N. pag.Global Issues
in Context.Web. 24 Oct. 2011. <http://find.galegroup.com/gic/
infomark.do?contentSet=GREF&docType=IAC&idigest=b527955b5caccdb4b4a2d40e86fe061a&t
ype=retrieve&tabID=T006&prodId=GIC&docId=A179218351&userGroupName=cant48040&versi
on=1.0&searchType=BasicSearchForm&source=gale>.
Gale Global Issues in Context.Child Soldiers. Detroit: Global Issues in Context, 2011. N.
pag.Global Issues in Context.Web. 24 Oct. 2011. <http://find.galegroup.com/gic/
infomark.do?contentSet=GREF&docType=GREF&idigest=b527955b5caccdb4b4a2d40e86fe061a
&type=retrieve&prodId=GIC&docId=CP3208520022&userGroupName=cant48040&version=1.0
&source=gale>.
The New York Times.Armies of Children. New York: The New York Times, 2006. N. pag.Global
Issues in Context.Web. 24 Oct. 2011. <http://find.galegroup.com/gic/
infomark.do?contentSet=IAC-

5. Documents&docType=IAC&idigest=b527955b5caccdb4b4a2d40e86fe061a&type=retrieve&tabI
D=T006&prodId=GIC&doc