The Mexican Drug War and it's affects on children
Children are the future. In order to obtain the well being of a child, there must be a safe environment provided. Childhood is especially crucial in a person’s life and essentially creates the personality structure of an individual. The Mexican drug war has taken a toll on the children not only physically, but mentally as well. This review of literature will further inform individuals the severe impact the Mexican drug war has left the children living in this war zone by starting from the root of the drug war, and working its way down to its lasting effects. Tables and graphs will be provided to insure the verification of each claim that will be made.
Mexico has increased in violence over the past five years due to the drug war between La Familia Cartel and the Zetas. With both groups fighting for regional control, everyone in the community gets stuck in the middle of countless street shootings, kidnappings and dreadful visuals. Although children were once considered “off limits” to the cartels, the rules no longer apply. The drug lords have chosen a new strategy and are using the children to convey messages to their opponents. The danger of the drug war is emphasized on children as much as it is to the general community. All root factors behind this dreadful war zone should be questioned to grasp a better understanding and more importantly, to help stop this from occurring once again. In order to really understand what affects this Mexican drug war has on its children, these for questions should be taken into consideration:
1. Are the children of Mexico aware of the danger that exists in their country?
2. What overall effects does this drug war have on the children of Mexico?
3. Who has more power over the country?
4. Does the drug war have a lasting effect on the country?
Mexico has increased in violence over the past five years due to the drug war between La Familia Cartel and the Zetas. With both groups fighting for regional control, everyone in the community gets stuck in the middle of countless street shootings, kidnappings and dreadful visuals. Although children were once considered “off limits” to the cartels, the rules no longer apply. The drug lords have chosen a new strategy and are using the children to convey messages to their opponents. The danger of the drug war is emphasized on children as much as it is to the general community. All root factors behind this dreadful war zone should be questioned to grasp a better understanding and more importantly, to help stop this from occurring once again. In order to really understand what affects this Mexican drug war has on its children, these for questions should be taken into consideration:
1. Are the children of Mexico aware of the danger that exists in their country?
2. What overall effects does this drug war have on the children of Mexico?
3. Who has more power over the country?
4. Does the drug war have a lasting effect on the country?
Are the children of mexico aware of the danger that exists in their country?
The thing about this question is that it is both a yes and no answer. Children have a difficult time understanding the whole concept of death until they reach the age group of about seven to ten years old. Studies show that this age group has been able to acknowledge that death is final and universal. (Vitas Innovative Hospice Care, 2013) If children are not able to fully understand the idea of death, how is it expected of them to understand everything there is contributing to the drug war in their country? What’s going on with their cities or why their friends and families are being killed.
However, children do in fact play a huge role in this operation. Children are being used by the cartels as messengers and child soldiers. They are being targeted and killed by competitive cartels who are trying to send the message out that savagery is now boundless. (The Washington Post, 2011) Some children are being recruited and are forced to murder people themselves or extreme consequences will occur. Many of these “recruits” — to use a clumsy term — are younger than 18, considered expendable, and deliberately ordered to attack superior Mexican military forces. (ICG, 2013) Military officers have declared that “First, the children are enticed or manipulated into joining the cartels, and given basic weapons instruction at training camps, many of which have been discovered in the jungles along the Guatemalan border. The weapons are varied, ranging from AR-15 rifles to Uzi submachine guns, and .38 and 9-mm caliber pistols. Next, the kids are put into cells led by experienced cartel soldiers, who have some prior training with the military or police.” (ICG, 2013) Nevertheless, although some children are too young to understand what is truly going on with the drug war being held in their country, others are being forced to participate in the war and are receiving first-hand experience with it which compels them to realization.
However, children do in fact play a huge role in this operation. Children are being used by the cartels as messengers and child soldiers. They are being targeted and killed by competitive cartels who are trying to send the message out that savagery is now boundless. (The Washington Post, 2011) Some children are being recruited and are forced to murder people themselves or extreme consequences will occur. Many of these “recruits” — to use a clumsy term — are younger than 18, considered expendable, and deliberately ordered to attack superior Mexican military forces. (ICG, 2013) Military officers have declared that “First, the children are enticed or manipulated into joining the cartels, and given basic weapons instruction at training camps, many of which have been discovered in the jungles along the Guatemalan border. The weapons are varied, ranging from AR-15 rifles to Uzi submachine guns, and .38 and 9-mm caliber pistols. Next, the kids are put into cells led by experienced cartel soldiers, who have some prior training with the military or police.” (ICG, 2013) Nevertheless, although some children are too young to understand what is truly going on with the drug war being held in their country, others are being forced to participate in the war and are receiving first-hand experience with it which compels them to realization.
What overall effects does this drug war have on the children of mexico?
The drug war has severely affected the children of Mexico not only physically but mentally as well. Countless numbers of emotionally disturbing stories have been shared by victims under the age of eighteen. This massacre existing in Mexico has lead to children being traumatized, killed and orphaned. The image below represents age and rate of deaths over the past years.
Kinder, middle and high school students are assured to have at least one devastating story to tell. “In Ciudad Juarez, children going to school have had to walk past bodies dumped on roadsides. In one case a body was strung up from a bridge near a school and in two incidents last year, gunmen seized children as human shields, leading to the death of a 12-year-old girl.” (Reuters, 2009) That statement alone expresses the damage being done to the innocent minds of children. These dreadful killings and left visuals leave the kids definitely prone to mental effects. In the Reuters website, there’s a promoted article called Children Traumatized by Mexico Drug War Killings that states the common physical and mental affects the war has on children such as: nightmares, wetting their beds or modified personalities (aggressive or quiet behaviors).
Who has more power over the country?
Between the government, the people and the cartels, it seems that the cartels have more control over the country. The cartels have been known to use terrorist tactics to intimidate the Mexican people and government. There are chances that the cartels in Mexico are international terrorist organizations, transnational criminal organizations as well as insurgents under the law which increases their potential power. Mexico’s criminal justice system has been said to be immensely ineffective. “With an ineffective Mexican criminal justice system and a U.S. justice system whose role is not intended to be that of problem solver, the limits of the law enforcement approach are increasingly evident.” (Breaking The Mexican Cartels, 2013)
Does the drug war have a lasting effect on the country?
The populations that need to be severely monitored are the upcoming generations. Although it is foreseeable that the children are becoming desensitized to the reoccurring violence, the dominant generation needs to take a stand and do everything they can to tame these raging adolescents for the sake of Mexico’s future. This task will be hard to accomplish knowing that these kids have grown immune to gore and carnage. For example, Reuters (2014) “Words like "execution", "shootout" and "massacre" are common vocabulary for children as young as eight, teachers say, and some know the slang word "encobijado", or "blanketed", to denote a murdered body wrapped in a blanket and dumped by drug gangs.” The transition of the Mexican drug war has been dated back to the late ninety nineties.
The likelihood of this operation being completely demolished is near to impossible. Although the killing rates could significantly decrease, drug trade and fight for control is plausible for never diminishing.
The Mexican drug war has been a heinous organization that has been occurring for many years but just recently became exuberant. The public needs to take into consideration the severity of the lasting effects it has on the children; the feature leaders of their country. It is in the hopes of many that their generation stays strong and morally correct versus becoming desensitized to these heinous acts that leads them into further corruption of the country.
The likelihood of this operation being completely demolished is near to impossible. Although the killing rates could significantly decrease, drug trade and fight for control is plausible for never diminishing.
The Mexican drug war has been a heinous organization that has been occurring for many years but just recently became exuberant. The public needs to take into consideration the severity of the lasting effects it has on the children; the feature leaders of their country. It is in the hopes of many that their generation stays strong and morally correct versus becoming desensitized to these heinous acts that leads them into further corruption of the country.
References
Cordero, C. 2013. Breaking The Mexican Cartels. Georgetown: GeorgetownUniversity Law Center. pp. 290-312.http://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2211&context=facpub.
Diaz, L. 2014. Children traumatized by Mexico drug war killings. Available at: http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/03/31/us-mexico-drugs-children-idUSTRE52U5ME20090331
Diego Valle's Blog. 2012. Age-Period-Cohort models and the decline of violence. Available at: http://blog.diegovalle.net/2012/10/age-period-cohort-models-and-decline-of.html
ICG. 2014. How Mexico’s Drug Cartels Recruit Child Soldiers as Young as 11 | Danger Room | WIRED. Available at: http://www.wired.com/2013/03/mexico-child-soldiers/
Reuters. 2014. Children traumatized by Mexico drug war killings. Available at: http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/03/31/us-mexico-drugs-children-idUSTRE52U5ME20090331
SodaHead. 2014. U.S. rattled as Mexico drug war bleeds over border. Available at:http://mexico-drug-war-bleeds-over-border/blog-48646/?link=ibaf&q=&esrc=s
Vitas.com. 2014. Children's Responses to Grief |VITAS Hospice. Available at: http://www.vitas.com/en/hospice-care-services/bereavement-and-grief-resources/child-development-stages
Washington Post. 2014. Drug cartels target children. Available at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/mexican-drug-cartels-targeting-and-killing-children/2011/04/07/AFwkFb9C_story.html
Diaz, L. 2014. Children traumatized by Mexico drug war killings. Available at: http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/03/31/us-mexico-drugs-children-idUSTRE52U5ME20090331
Diego Valle's Blog. 2012. Age-Period-Cohort models and the decline of violence. Available at: http://blog.diegovalle.net/2012/10/age-period-cohort-models-and-decline-of.html
ICG. 2014. How Mexico’s Drug Cartels Recruit Child Soldiers as Young as 11 | Danger Room | WIRED. Available at: http://www.wired.com/2013/03/mexico-child-soldiers/
Reuters. 2014. Children traumatized by Mexico drug war killings. Available at: http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/03/31/us-mexico-drugs-children-idUSTRE52U5ME20090331
SodaHead. 2014. U.S. rattled as Mexico drug war bleeds over border. Available at:http://mexico-drug-war-bleeds-over-border/blog-48646/?link=ibaf&q=&esrc=s
Vitas.com. 2014. Children's Responses to Grief |VITAS Hospice. Available at: http://www.vitas.com/en/hospice-care-services/bereavement-and-grief-resources/child-development-stages
Washington Post. 2014. Drug cartels target children. Available at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/mexican-drug-cartels-targeting-and-killing-children/2011/04/07/AFwkFb9C_story.html
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