Children of the Taliban

1) The children of Pakistan and Afghanistan join the Taliban for several reasons. The first is because they get indoctrinated when they're young. The Taliban teach them that suicide bombings are alright because they are dying for their cause and will go to heaven if they do suicide bombings. Many of the kids are attracted to guns and sometimes want to join the Taliban because of that. Others join the Taliban because they're mad at the Americans for bombing thier villages. In the video, "Children of the Taliban," one of the 14 year olds family member's died in a bombing, and he was supporting the Taliban because he wanted revenge on the Americans and was willing to do a suicide bombing. When the boys in Afghanistan reach their teenage years, they have to go to madrassas, where they learn to memorize the Koran and learn to get trained for military attacks.

2) The war in Pakistan has impacted children by the Taliban being against girls attending schools. The Taliban have destroyed schools so girls won't be able to attend them. They also made almost all the children very fearful of them. For example, the two girls who were at their school which had just been destroyed were very afraid of the Taliban and didn't to be seen going to school of else the Taliban would punish them. The terrible acts the Taliban do such as killing people publicly on the streets and hanging them is very traumatizing for the children.

3) The military offensive by the Pakistani and U.S. drones has not been very effective. The soldiers are dropping bombs into villages which are killing more people than they want. They are trying to target the Taliban but the Taliban are blending in with the villagers and when bombs get dropped on villages, many innocent civilians are dying which makes the family members angry at the Americans. The family members are then more reluctant to join the Taliban. One of the teenagers in one of the villages by the name of Wasifullah was angry at the Americans for killing one of his family members in an air strike, and was willing to do a suicide attack for the Taliban. This particular kid is very extreme compared to others kids his age, but several hundred of these kids could definitely cause lots of damage and problems.

4) The Taliban continue to grow because the Taliban can convince the children to join them. The Taliban use the madrassas to teach kids to memorize the Koran and learn about bombings and military tactics, and young kids can easily be brainwashed into doing these things. The madrassas are effective because any boy from any family can go to one, which is one of the reasons the Taliban continue to grow.

With the Americans bombing villages, the people in the village will most likely turn against the Americans because their village was destroyed by the Americans. The Americans are occupying Afghanistan which causes some people to turn against them because they think the Americans are constricting their freedom. If the Americans continue bombing villages, more and more people will turn against them which causes the Taliban to grow and become stronger.