child soldiers

Child Soldiers

Poor African children are forced into being a child soldier after they have no one else to care for them. They go to military bases for safety because they thought the soldiers would help them but instead they just took them in and forced them into being child soldiers. These are just some of the few horrible things that happen to child soldiers. That is why I think that these child soldiers are victims and defiantly not perpetrators. 

Child soldiers are also put in a position where they need to listen to their commanders and are sometimes even forced to suicide bomb sometimes. The children because they are in a position with no other family most of the time the commanders begin to become father figures to them and then are given drugs by these father figures. Most of the time for the suicide bombing children it’s not in Africa it’s in the middle east and sometimes even in some parts of South America. These children are taken away from their families and forced to suicide bomb which could be considered homicide because you’re forcing someone to put on a bomb and kill them selves so I think that could be considered homicide.

After the war child soldiers are still having war induced trauma. One former child soldier said that after the war he could see blood running from the faucet and the shower when there was actually water. He couldn’t sleep at night because he just had nightmares about the war. In other words being a child soldier really screwed him for a year or two.

I can see why people might think these innocent children could be perpetrators. People could say that they are killing people which they were but they were forced and had nowhere else to go. People might ask, “Why couldn’t they just escape and run away?” First of all they were on a military base so that would be pretty hard to escape and also these children have nowhere else to go, that’s the reason why they came to the army base in the first place. And finally, I could see how people might think that they are suicide bombing but they’re really not, they’re being forced to suicide bomb and the bombers are getting killed, too.

In conclusion, child soldiers are victims. They were forced to be a child soldier it was not a choice. Not only African children are child soldiers but there are child soldiers on every continent except Antarctica so if you can think about that that means there are child soldiers in North America and Europe and if you can imagine it there are millions of child soldiers around the world. So once again child soldiers are victims.      

Harry Potter And the Chamber of Secrets

I am reading the book, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" by JK Rowling. In this book, at the beginning Harry is stuck at his aunt and uncles house and they are not letting him do anything. Then there is a house elf that turns up in Harry's room and tells him not to go to Hogwarts this year and Doby (the elf) was taking his letters from Hermione and Ron (Harry's best friends) and then to top that off Doby got Harry locked up in his room. But then Ron and his brothers broke him out of that house and brang Harry to their house. But a little later when Harry and Ron are trying to go to the train through the wall Doby closes the portal and their stuck at the train station and you will have to read the book to see what happens next.

I think what Doby did to Harry and Ron was very bad. I know he is trying to stop Harry from wanting to go to Hogwarts but he goes through so much to do it. First Doby is trying to make Harry think his friends don't like him because he's not getting any letters. Then if that wasn't bad enough he just gets Harry grounded and not aloud to go to Hogwarts. Then he also tells him that he shouldn't go to Hogwarts. Finally after all of that and Harry still went to the train Doby blocked the portal to the train, track 9 3/4.

 In the short story, “Am I Blue”, by Bruce Collins the main character, Vincent learns that there may be a lot of people who hate on gays and say its bad. But that’s not true, don’t worry what other people think about you, just be yourself. 

Melvin supports this theory by saying things like, “I walk and talk the way I do because I’m not going to let anyone else define me.” This backs up my original idea because Melvin is saying it is his choice the way he walks and talks, In other words he doesn’t care what other people think of him, he just wants to be himself. Also, what Melvin is basically trying to say to Vincent is that you shouldn’t let other people define you, just be yourself. 

Vincent also feels unconfortable around Melvin because Melvin kept winking at other gay guys, “Then winked at a nice looking college student sitting about five tables away from us. ‘Will you stop that!’ I hissed.” Again Melvin doesn’t care what other people think and is just being himself. But Vincent thinks he will get beat up because of that wink. In the beggining before all of this Vincent is trying to repress his gay feelings. But after he gets gaydar and realizes how many people are gay he gets more confortable around Melvin and settles for the fact that he may or may not be gay, “Maybe when I meet the girl of my dreams. Or my prince charming. Whichever.

In conclusion, I think that you shouldn’t let other people define who you are, and just be yourself. Finally I want you ,the reader to try to help stop bullying on gays, If you see someone getting bullied because of their sexuality or another reason stand up for them or tell an adult. 

Drummer Boy of Shilloh Response

The short story, “The Drummer Boy of Shiloh” by Ray Bradbury shows the reader that you should face life head on with faith and courage even when life’s difficult. I think this because by the end of the story when the general talked Joby up he was ready to face life and the war head on.
In the “Drummer Boy of Shiloh” by Ray Bradbury the general talks Joby up which makes Joby feel better. I think this because in the beginning when we first met Joby he was depressed and thinks he's going to die and says things before the general talks to him like, “I got only a drum, two sticks to beat it, and no shield.” But when the general talked to him the general said, “You’re general of the army when the generals left behind.” Joby changes by the general giving him confidence. This change is important because without the newborn confidence he might still think he's going to die.
Also at the end of the book because of the talking up by the general Joby thinks he is important.  He does this by saying things like, “If Joby beat slow tomorrow ...They would lag by the wayside... But if he beat a sure, steady, ever faster rhythm, their knees would come up in a long line over the hill.” That made Joby feel important in the war and ready to face the war head on.
In conclusion, this short story tells us that you need to face life head on with faith and courage even when life's difficult. I think this because by the end of the story when the general talked Joby up he was ready to face life and the war head on.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

"The Invention of Hugo Cabret"
In, "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" by Brian Selznick a boy named Hugo Cabret lives in a train station in Paris. His father died in a museum fire and the only thing that survived from the fire was a automaton or robot that can write and his uncle that was taking care of him had left him and he was alone at the train station. His whole goal was to fix the automaton to make it write.

I think the main theme of this book is to do what you want to do. I think this because even though he has barley any money and he lives in a secret room in a train station he still try's to finish the automaton and figure out what it writes.

I think that the theme of this book is to do what you want to do. This is because in the book Hugo has very little money he tries to fix the automaton that his father was trying to fix. He does this by stealing items from a toy booth and using a book that his father gave him that tells him how to build it. Also even though he has basically nothing and lives in a secret room in a train station with practically no money. He's living alone and getting no income while fixing clocks at the train station and he still does what he still try's to fix the automaton.

In conclusion, the main theme of this book is to do what you want to do. I think this because even though he has so many hard things in his life and then he still did what he wanted to do by trying to fix the automaton.

"The Rise of Nice"

"The Rise of Nine" by Pittacus Lore (Which is actually an allies) is the 3rd book in the I Am Number

 Four series which will hopefully not be the last book in the series because it is a amazing series with a lot of loose ends at the end of this book that need to be tied up.In this series 10 aliens who were saved from their planet when it was destroyed by the Magadoriens and were given number and the first 3 were killed. Now they were trying to kill the Magadorien leader by using their legacies which are basically superpowers and gather together. In this it leads from the end of the last book ("The Power of Six") where number four and number 9 met up at the Magadorians secret layer in west virginia while trying to save number 4's chest and best fiend Sam. Then Number Six who met up with Number 10 and Number 7. After they all eventually meet up they find that the final base and get through into the base to try to find the Magadorien leader and Six and Sam and then in turn kill the Magadorien leader. 

In this book I think that it teaches us that the right teacher makes a difference. You can tell this from the what the different numbers were taught by their cèpean's or teacher of the children that are taught how to use their powers well. But if you have a bad cèpean and they don't teach you then you can't defend yourself. For example Number 7's cèpean did not teach her how to harness her legacies or any skills so she was not prepared for a fight. This is the perfect example of bad teaching and that left her defenseless and confused when her first fight came and that resultated in the death of her cèpean.