War Games

So I saw The Hunger Games the other day.  I hadn’t read the books, but knew the basic plot.  The whole idea of children fighting to the death for the sake of entertainment sickens me, but I went to the movie anyway, sure that if so many people saw value in the books, I would find something to like.

Didn’t happen.  To all those friends and family that told me “it isn’t about the killing,” I’m sorry, but it was.  I was on the verge of tears the entire movie, not only because of the story, but because I couldn’t stop thinking of all those children out there in our own world to whom this isn’t just a story.

Children under 18 are not permitted to be recruited into armed forces or directly participate in hostilities, according to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, yet hundreds of thousands of children have been affected by armed conflict, been forced to fight and kill to survive.

Someone said to me: “I didn’t think child soldiers still existed.”

Yes, they do.  Children don’t remain children for long in a war zone, and today’s battlefields look more like The Hunger Games than many of us would be comfortable with.  Don’t picture trench warfare like we learned about in high school history.  Picture snipers and mines and sudden attacks.  Picture being kidnapped from home, from school, or from the field where you play.  Imagine being handed weapons, pointed at an enemy and told to kill.  Now imagine that you’re 10, or 12, or 16 years old.

The Hunger Games is a story of a dystopian world.  I know that from only watching the movie I don’t have the complete picture of the fictional world the author has created, and I don’t denounce anyone who enjoys the books/movie.  However, I’m afraid that I will never be able to see past the concept of children forced to kill one another to provide someone else’s entertainment. 

For more information:
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (2000)

Guide to the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (UNICEF, 2003)

Getting Children off the Battlefield (Human Rights Watch, 2012)