1. WHAT WERE YOU
DOING WHEN YOU
WERE 5 YEARS OLD?

2. OR MAYBE

3. HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF CHILDREN ARE
USED AS CHILD SOLDIERS ALL OVER THE WORLD

4. SOME ARE AS YOUNG AS 5

6. CHILDREN ARE
VULNERABLE
BECAUSE OF THEIR
EMOTIONAL AND
PHYSICAL
IMMATURITY.
THEY ARE EASILY
MANIPULATED
AND DRAWN INTO
VIOLENCE THAT
THEY ARE TOO
YOUNG TO RESIST
OR UNDERSTAND.

7. IT’S NOT JUST BOYS…

8. IN NEPAL, SRI LANKA AND UGANDA, A THIRD OR
MORE OF THE CHILD SOLDIERS WERE REPORTED
TO BE GIRLS
GIRLS MAY BE RAPED, OR GIVEN TO MILITARY
COMMANDERS AS "WIVES"

9. MODERN LIGHTWEIGHT
WEAPONS AND SMALL ARMS ARE ACCESSIBLE AND
SIMPLY OPERATED, ALLOWING CHILDREN TO USE
THEM IN PLACE OF ADULTS

10. CHILD SOLDIERS ARE
GIVEN COCAINE AND
OTHER DRUGS TO
HELP TAKE THE EDGE
OFF…MANY BECOME
ADDICTED

11. CHILDREN ARE KILLED AND
WOUNDED AT FAR HIGHER
RATES THAN THEIR ADULT
COMRADES.

12. THOSE WHO SURVIVE OFTEN SUFFER TRAUMA,
INJURY, ABUSE, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL SCARRING
FROM THE VIOLENCE AND BRUTALITY THEY
EXPERIENCE.
SOME ARE REJECTED BY THEIR FAMILIES AND
COMMUNITIES.

13. CHILDREN ARE SOMETIMES
FORCED TO COMMIT
ATROCITIES AGAINST THEIR
OWN FAMILY TO HELP ENSURE
THAT THE CHILD
IS "STIGMATIZED”
AND UNABLE TO
RETURN TO HIS
OR HER HOME
COMMUNITY.

14. WHEN THE SURVIORS
RE-ENTER THE REAL
WORLD…

15. • WITHDRAWAL
• DISRUPTIVE BEHAVIOR
• NIGHTMARES
• IRRITABILITY
• REGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR
• PAIN OF NO MEDICAL BASIS
• DEPRESSION
• ANXIETY
• GUILT
• FLASHBACKS
• EMOTIONAL NUMBING
• SUBSTANCE ABUSE

16. POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER
(PTSD) PHYSICALLY ALTERS THE BRAIN
OF CHILDREN
SPECIFICALLY
THE
HIPPOCAMPUS,
PREFRONTAL
CORTEX, AND
THE
AMYGDALE

17. THE STORY OF
ONE CHILD
SOLDIER

18. ISHMAEL BEAH
AT AGE 11, HE WITNESSED THE DEATH OF HIS FAMILY
AT AGE 13 HE BECAME A CHILD SOLDIER

19. IN 1997 ISHMAEL BEAH WAS SAVED BY UNICEF
HE WROTE A BOOK
ABOUT HIS
EXPERIENCES
CALLED A LONG
WAY GONE:
MEMOIRS OF A BOY
SOLDIER

20. HOW CAN YOU HELP?

21. VISIT
WWW.CHISOL.ORG
FOR MORE
INFORMATION