WINNERS

INTERNATIONAL/NATIONAL Peace Essay Winners toc =1st Place= =Child Soldiers-Lauren Miller =

=
"Early on when my brothers and I were captured, the LRA explained to us that all five brothers couldn’t serve in the LRA because we would not perform well. So they tied up my two younger brothers and invited us to watch. Then they beat them with sticks until two of them died. They told us it would give us strength to fight. My youngest brother was nine years old." -Martin, age 12 ===== === For the last few decades, child soldiers have been an impending problem in more than eighty-six countries around the world. This growing issue is a larger phenomenon than most realize. Since the beginning of the Ugandan War, the Lord's Resistance Army has kidnapped over 20,000 innocent young children, and forced them into a violent conflict. They have seen things no child should ever have to see, they have felt pain no child should ever have to feel, and they have done thing no child should ever have to do. This twenty-three year long war has left entire generations knowing a world that has never had peace. === === According to Invisible Children, the Ugandan War has been called “the most  neglected humanitarian emergency in the world." This ongoing brutal conflict has destroyed thousands of villages, and placed nearly two million innocent civilians in the middle of a bloody, gruesome battle, most of them being children. === === For most children, fighting is not a choice, and often times the only escape they have from the conflict is "night commuting." Night commuters are children who march into the center of their villages every night to sleep in the trees, or on the street in hopes of avoiding the LRA, who often abducts sleeping children at night. === === When children are abducted by the LRA, it is not uncommon for them to be forced to kill their family. Just think: 9 year olds FORCED to kill their FAMILY. For twenty-three years, thousands of families have been ripped apart, siblings forced to kill siblings, and children left with no one. Often times the abducted children end up looking to the commander as a father figure, simply because they have no one else. === === Along with killing families, child soldiers are physically pushed beyond their feeble bodies limits. They are denied water and food, and are subjected to physical and emotional torture. Girls are raped and exploited sexually without a second thought. They are drugged, so as to confuse them even more. They are forced to commit acts that they themselves are too young to understand, and because of their age they are incredibly vulnerable, and can easily be coerced in to appalling behavior. They are forced in to tasks such as laying land mines, punishing other child soldiers, and rape. These children suffer from disease, malnutrition, and along with terrible injuries, and they never get the medical help they so desperately need. They are told they are not valuable to the world, and the worst part is that they believe that. === === Common causes of child soldier abduction are simple things such as the lack of education, poverty, lack of funding for Demobilization, Disarmament and Reintegration programs (DDR), and the lack of churches. All of these reasons are things that we can help with. Organizations like Invisible Children and Compassion International are doing their part to help, but they need US. === === These children are caught in the war with no way out because DDR programs are not getting the income that they need, and the world turns its back on the issue. One person can make a difference and its time we stepped up. === === Even as a high school student there are lots of ways to get involved. Invisible Children has a program called Schools-For-Schools. This means a high school here in the U.S. sponsors a partner school in Uganda. For as little as 15 dollars a month and entire school in Uganda can be supported. Providing children with the Education they deserve. === === Another thing Invisible Children does is a bracelet campaign. Traditional Ugandan bracelets are made in refugee camps, and then sold in the U.S. along with a child's story. All profits from these bracelets are directly given to the bracelet makers, providing then with money to be able to support their family. === === There are so many other ways to get involved and make a difference in these children's lives. Organizations such as Compassion International offer sponsorships to children affected by war. By sponsoring a child you can provide them with an education, food, and most importantly the opportunity to know Jesus as their personal savior. === === On a personal level these children's stories are what inspired me to become a doctor in the future. I want so desperately to be able to use what God has blessed me with and give them what they need, and are unable to get. I feel so passionately about these children, that I cannot wait to do my part for them. It has even inspired me so much as to sponsor a child. Although I am just one person, I know I am changing a child's life for the better, just by doing something as simple as sending money every month. === === It does not take something drastic to help these child soldiers. Just by spreading their stories, you are helping them out, letting the world know. There are so many ways to help these innocent children, and I encourage you to not simply stand by and let them go unnoticed, living the rest of their lives thinking they mean nothing for the rest of their lives. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> === __Works Consulted__ "CHILDREN IN CONFLICT." //Global Action for Children//. N.p., 2009. Web. 29 Sept. 2009. <http://www.globalactionforchildren.org/issues/ child_in_conflict/>.

"Child Soldiers." //Coalition to Stop The Use of Child Soldiers//. N.p., 2007. Web. 29 Sept. 2009. <http://www.child-soldiers.org/childsoldiers/ child-soldiers>.

Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers. "Uganda." //Child Soldiers Global// //Report 2008// 2008: 344-348. Web. 29 Sept. 2009. <http://www.childsoldiersglobalreport.org/files/country_pdfs/ FINAL_2008_Global_Report.pdf>.

"Invisible Children ." //Invisible Children//. N.p., 29 Sept. 2009. Web. 29 Sept. 2009. [].

"Report on the Lack of Ugandan Child Soldier Relief, Relief for Girls." //Child// //Soldier Relief//. N.p., 17 Nov. 2008. Web. 29 Sept. 2009. <http://childsoldierrelief.org/2008/11/17/ damning-new-report-on-the-lack-of-ugandan-child-soldier-relief/>.

"Sponsor a Child." //Compassion International//. Compassion International, 2009. Web. 29 Sept. 2009. <http://www.compassion.com/>.

=2nd Place=

=3rd Place=

STATE/LOCAL Peace Essay Winners

=1st Place= <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center;">Date Rape: a Crime against Humanity-Melissa Kinsella <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">How many women are living in fear, cowering from interaction with other human beings, suffering from nightmares that they cannot wake up from? According to Crime in the United States, <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">there were an estimated 93,934 forcible rapes reported to law enforcement in 2005. However more often than not, victims of this violent crime do not report the violation to police. Teen Dating Statistics report that <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">more than half of young women raped, an estimated 68 percent, knew their rapist either as a boyfriend, friend, or casual acquaintance. Even more shocking is that <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">approximately 90 percent of rape victims, who knew their attacker, do not report the attack to authorities because of a fear of guilt, self blame, embarrassment, helplessness, denial, or a number of other emotional factors, according to Wikipedia. This is especially true in high school settings, where fitting in deters girls from reporting sexual assault. Date rape is a violent human crime that affects those around us, but it can be prevented through awareness and education. The term “date rape,” like its victims, suffers from many misconceptions. Before we can enact a solution, we must clarify the problem. Date rape, or acquaintance rape, refers to forced sex between two individuals who know each other. Rape is neither an act of love nor passion, it is a crime that degrades, humiliates, and pains another human being. Rape is often associated with the mantra “she led him on”; rape is in no shape or form the fault of the woman injured. It is irrelevant what a woman wears, how she talks, or what she has done in the past, none of that gives a human being control over another’s body. The fact is that no one “is asking” to be violated. How unfair that rape is the only crime where a standard is given to a victim. The aftermath of coping with such a traumatic event can be just as messy as the crime itself. Feelings of guilt prevent many victims from seeking the help they so desperately need. Though the physical harm may be healed, the emotional and psychological harm deep within the victim rarely ever see the help of healing. The betrayal of someone close shatters the victim so much so that it is nearly impossible to trust anyone ever again. The road to recovery is long and grueling, characterized with trouble sleeping, flashbacks, depression, and social withdrawal. It is an experience that I would not wish upon my worst enemy. The way to combat rape is through education in our schools and religious communities. Both young girls and boys need to be taught a mutual respect for their bodies as well as their minds. They need to be aware that rape is a crime, not a rite of passage. Going out on a date is not an automatic consent to have sexual relations. Talking about expectations of a relationship is a good measure to take in order to ensure that boundaries are not crossed and someone’s rights imposed upon. The other half of the solution is seeing to it that perpetrators of rape are punished accordingly. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Only one in 100 victims of // forcible // rape sees her attacker sent to prison according to an article written by Alice Vachss, an attorney at law. That number is far too small for the number of rapes that occur each year. In order to deter date rape from happening, we need to see to it that victims see justice, and perpetrators feel the full extent of the law. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Though I know it will be painful, I encourage those who have been a victim of rape to speak up. Victims need to go to the authorities if they have not yet done so. Those victimized should seek comfort in family and friends, counseling, and support groups in order to overcome feelings of insecurity, mistrust, and loss of control. Once victims are comfortable with talking about what happened to them, I encourage them to share their stories with the world. Talking about the incident empowers the women and gives them something that no perpetrator can ever take from them, hope. Hope that their story will prevent the same thing from happening to someone else, that they may save one girl from the misery and humiliation they suffered every day. Ignoring the problem will not make it go away; the voices of these women put a face to a crime, make it a human crime. We live in a community with modern technology however a practice as barbaric as rape is still in use. What many fail to see is that rape is a crime against humanity, a crime which stains our culture and will continue to do so unless we put a stop to it. Every woman knows the uneasy feeling accompanied with traveling to her car in a desolate parking garage. The threat of sexual assault shadows the entire walk there. Every time though, you reach your car just fine. However, many are not so lucky. Based on information given to the UCR Program in 2005, 48.4 rapes occur by force per 100,000 female inhabitants. Those women live the rest of their lives trapped within their own body, feeling powerless and unworthy. It is for all women that we must speak out against rape, for the women victimized as well as the women who reach their cars and drive away unharmed. It is time that we educate our sons and daughters to respect and be at peace with their bodies. It is time to educate them that rape is not love; it is violence; however; it is a violence that can be prevented. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; text-align: center;">Works Consulted <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Blackburn, Maria. “Teen’s Account of Assault Led to More Reports, Arrest.” //The Baltimore Sun// 5 Nov. 2001: n. pag. Rpt. in //Articles//. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. //The Zero//. Web. 26 Sept. 2009. <http://www.vachss.com/‌help_text/‌archive/‌teens_acct.html>. “Coping With the Aftermath of Rape .” //University of Pittsburgh Medical Center//. N.p., May 2008. Web. 26 Sept. 2009. <http://www.upmc.com/‌HealthAtoZ/‌Pages/‌HealthLibrary.aspx?chunkiid=23195>. “Date Rape .” //Wikipedia//. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 28 Sept. 2009. Web. 25 Sept. 2009. <http://en.wikipedia.org/‌wiki/‌Date_rape>. “Date Rape Drugs .” //About.com//. The New York Times Company, 2009. Web. 26 Sept. 2009. <http://teenadvice.about.com/‌library/‌weekly/‌aa062502a.htm>. “Forcible Rape .” //Crime in the United States//. U.S. Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Investigation, Sept. 2006. Web. 25 Sept. 2009. <http://www.fbi.gov/‌ucr/‌05cius/‌offenses/‌violent_crime/‌forcible_rape.html>. “Rape and Date Rape .” //Cleveland Clinic//. N.p., 8 Feb. 2005. Web. 25 Sept. 2009. <http://my.clevelandclinic.org/‌Healthy_Living/‌violence/‌hic_Rape_and_Date_Rape.aspx>. Sebold, Alice. //Lucky//. 1999. New York : Back Bay-Little, Brown and Company, 2002. Print. “Teen Dating Violence.” //Domestic Peace//. Arkansas Coalition Against Domestic Violence, May 2000. Web. 25 Sept. 2009. <http://www.domesticpeace.com/‌ed_teendating.html>. Vachss, Alice. “All Rape is ‘Real’ Rape.” //The New York Times// 11 Aug. 1993: n. pag. Rpt. in //Articles//. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. //The Zero//. Web. 26 Sept. 2009. <http://www.vachss.com/‌guest_dispatches/‌alice_vachss.html>. “What is Date Rape? .” //Hope for Healing//. N.p., 2006. Web. 25 Sept. 2009. [] =2nd Place=

=3rd Place=