Child soldiers in the Congo

Lindsay Branham’s “War is stealing Congo’s young” (http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/11/24/branham.congo/index.html#cnnSTCText) describes the plight of children forced into war in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Rebel leaders come to schools to abduct children to use in their war. “These boys are abducted from their schools and homes and forced to hold a weapon and use it against their own government,” Branham writes. The abducted boys receive three days of training, including indoctrination, before they are forced into battle. They are put on the front lines and shot by the rebels if they look backwards. This article illustrates some of the negative points of groups. The children undergo deindividuation and lose self-regulation, acting in ways they would not otherwise (i.e. killing other people). They are told to identify with their new group – the rebels – and hate the other group – the government. They are obedient to the older leaders, doing whatever they are told.