This clip is a lesson starter for a KS3 citizenship lesson, showing how child soldiers are being rehabilitated. The conflict in Sierra Leone was declared over in 2002 and the children who had been working as soldiers began to come home - but they have not always received a warm welcome and have faced an array of problems. Even six years after the war, many children are growing up with a future of limited opportunities. Many are traumatised from their experiences, have no families to care for them and because of their actions during the conflict many find it hard to integrate back into society. The clip profiles one boy who used to be a soldier but is now in school. He is still hugely affected by his experiences as a soldier, but is slowly rebuilding his life. The clip ends with the question: Why do people recruit child soldiers? What might be the difficulties in rehabilitating these children?

Video Series: Lesson Starters
Release Date 2009