When remembering periods of war and conflict, we tend to reflect on the brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect us from those who threaten world peace. But how often do we take the time to honour the children caught in the middle of these conflicts, whose voices are missing from the history books?
The Canadian War Museum, acknowledging this lack of youth perspective, held an event titled “Symposium: Children, Youth and War,” on Nov. 19. The goal was to call attention to the experiences of children who find themselves caught in the midst of conflict, and to present new ways of discussing history.
“Children’s lives tend to be less documented than adults’ lives,” said Susan Whitney, an associate professor of history and the associate dean in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Carleton University.
A wide variety of speakers were in attendance, offering their own unique take on youth and war.
Speakers ranged from professors to refugees who had fled conflict and come to Canada in hopes of starting a new and secure life. They discussed the effects of war on youth, dating back to the First World War to the present era’s Syrian refugees.
Kristine Alexander, an assistant professor of history and Canada Research Chair in Child and Youth Studies at the University of Lethbridge, showed images of letters written by Canadian children to their fathers who were at the frontlines during the First World War.
In contrast, Carolyn Kay, a history professor at Trent University, showed disturbing drawings done by German children glamourizing the brutal victories of the German army during the same 1914-1918 conflict.
“Children’s voices matter. They really do matter. Historians have to open doors to them,” said Leontine Uwababyeyi, a refugee who came to Canada to escape the Rwandan Genocide.
“They need to let children tell their stories without getting information from books and videos. We need to hear it from the actual person who went through that,” she said.
Uwababyeyi said that children today who are learning about the history of conflicts should be educated by those who have had first-hand experiences of conflicts.
“Kids only know about the genocide only through the movie ‘Hotel Rwanda.’ Seeing a person that really went through that can change the way the history books have taught it,” she said.
“History is unfortunately seen only through the lens of adults, not children,” said Ayanda Keith Dubé, a refugee who came to Canada from Zimbabwe after his family decided he was no longer safe as a politically engaged student.
Similar to the presentations that they give at high schools, Dubé and Uwababyeyi presented their “Life Stories” video projects at the event, where they outlined the difficulties that they faced as refugees coming to Canada.
“I teach kids about all these things because I want to put them in my situation and say to them ‘Hey, what if you moved to another country?’ Put yourself in this situation where you’re trying to find community in a country like this,” Dubé said.
“Finding the community that I miss is hard. Finding food that I miss is hard. You put that into children’s minds, and you start to get their minds going,” he said.
“Ayanda and I came as refugees. We have different experiences. We got a chance to share our stories though life-stories,” Uwababyeyi said.
“We helped spread stories to schools and we have seen how kids have reacted. It’s really important to use history in different ways,” she said.