Blog #4

In the book The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, the story is not fair because a greaser named Ponyboy gets attacked in a park with his friend Johnny. Ponyboy ends up killing one of the socs that were drowning them and Ponyboy and Johnny run away thinking that they will be executed if they are caught. They hide out in an abandoned church for a couple of days, then leave for a couple of hours. When they come back, the church is on fire and there are kids from a school trip stuck inside. Ponyboy and Johnny run in and get the kids out, but when they are leaving a part of the church collapses on Ponyboy giving him burns that eventually kill him. This story is not fair because two kids who would give their lives to save others get tangled up in a murder they didn't want to commit.

This text deals with money because it puts people into two gangs. The rich kids are part of the socs gang which is in the rich part of town. Almost everyone else is a greaser gang which is in the ghetto part of town. If you lived in the rich part of town you would probably be a soc and if you lived in the ghetto you would most likely be a greaser. In this book who you hang out with depends on where you live and how much money you have. The groups didn't work together. Instead, they fought against each other. In this book, money puts people into different categories and gangs based upon how much money they have and where they live.        

Blog #3

In the book “The Outsiders” by S.E. Hinton the story is not fair because Ponyboy who is a greaser and one of the main characters in the book gets jumped in a park with his friend Johnny by a couple of Socs. After almost being drowned in the park fountain, Ponyboy stabbed and killed one of the Socs. Then Ponyboy and Johnny run away afraid that they will be put in the electric chair for killing the Soc. After days of hiding in an abandoned church, they leave and come back after figuring out what they should do next. When they get to the church they find it in flames with kids from a school trip inside.  Ponyboy and Johnny run into the falling building to save the kids. Right as they are leaving a part of the church falls on Ponyboy giving him severe burns that ended up killing him. This story is not fair because two kids who would give their lives to save others get tangled up in a murder that they didn’t want to commit.  But they did it in self defense since they had no other choice.

This text makes me think that justice in the world is a little unfair. For instance, when Ponyboy and Johnny were getting jumped in the park, they killed the Soc because the Soc was going to kill them. It was a kill or be killed moment that could have gotten Ponyboy in an electric chair charged with murder for killing the Soc. I think that was unfair because it was self defense since he would not have killed the guy if he didn’t feel threatened by him. I think if you kill in self defense you should pay less of a price then killing a person in cold blood. The book “The Outsiders” by S.E. Hinton makes me think that justice in the world is a little unfair. 

Child Soldier Response

Child soldiers are victims for many reasons. For starter’s, child soldiers are drugged. They are also brutally abducted from their families. Most of all child soldiers are victims because they are being enlisted every day to fight in wars all around the world. Child soldiers all around the world are victims being forcefully abducted from their families, drugged, and enlisted in armies.

In the article “Children at War” by P.W. Singer, the author explains how kids are victims by being taken from home to fight. For instance, in the article the author put in quotes from a boy who was abducted. The boy said “I was attending primary school. The rebels came and attacked us. They killed my mother and father in front of my eyes. I was 10 years old. They took me with them.” This shows how child soldiers are victims because they are attacked, their families are killed, and they are taken from their homes, which is not right. The author also puts in that “rebel and government forces alike have abducted some 20,000 Liberian children, forcing them into front line combat.” This fact makes you think about how bad the problem is since the government is even abducting kids from home. Child soldiers are victims because they are brutally forced away from their homes without a say.

Child soldiers are also victims because they are drugged. For instance, in an interview with Katie Couric a man named Ishmael Beah said that the drugs they were given gave them “a sense of invincibility.” Also, in the same interview Ishmael Beah said that “after the initial use of drugs, this became our sense of reality. We lost ourselves completely in this war that it became the only thing we knew.” These examples show that child soldiers are drugged to the point that all they know about is the war. It is almost like they are brainwashed to only know how to fight and kill.

Child soldiers are victims because they are forced to fight in wars all around the world. In the interview with Katie Couric, Ishmael Beah said, “I was with a group of other kids. Naturally, we thought if we went to a military base we would be protected. That turned out not to be the case. We were forcefully recruited.” Also, in the article “Armed and Underage” the author wrote “when Beah was 13, Sierra Leone was embroiled in a civil war. Rebels attacked his village, and Beah was separated from his parents. After spending months wandering through his war-torn country, he was forcibly recruited into Sierra Leone’s army. Beah was armed with an AK-47, drugged, and taught to kill.” These examples show how child soldiers are victims because they are taken and forced to fight with no say in anything.   

As you can see, child soldiers are victims. They are victims because they are abducted from their homes. Child soldiers are also victims because they are drugged to the point of being brainwashed. Finally, child soldiers are victims because they are forced to fight. Child soldiers are not perpetrators. They are victims of war.