Often, it is evident that during conflict, the government is seen to focus on the hard aspects of a conflict. They focus on settling disputes, economic matters, and essentially all the elements that affect them politically and how they are portrayed in the media, especially in the West. Therefore, the psychological and mental impact that these events have on children is often deemed unimportant. These soft aspects are indeed the things that matter, yet they are not paid heed to.
Living in a conflict zone has innumerable challenges, challenges that a child should never have to face. The KPK region of Pakistan is a region where Pakistan’s security forces take an active part in carrying out military operations almost daily. Since the early 2000s, the Taliban have attacked educational institutions in the KPK region. There has been an emphasis on trying to control the future generation's education, especially for girls. This anti-education campaign has led to over 1100 schools being destroyed in the KPK region.
Why, you may ask, has the Taliban put so much emphasis on trying to keep the future generation uneducated you may ask? To put it simply: Education is the driving force for liberation. Education alone has the power to change the lives of not just individuals but entire societies. The fear instilled against the pursuit of education makes sense when you understand the might that education holds against the oppressors. Why do girls have it worse? Girls are the ones who will be raising the entire future generation of our country. If they are not appropriately educated, they will be unable to provide adequate support for their future children.
We should also take into account the impact that the lack of education will have on a child. If children have not been provided with guidance on not just the path of economic literacy but also their morality, their connectivity, and their mannerisms, they are likely to have weak moral and belief systems. This may lead them to question their suffering, “Why me?” they may ask; why would God make them suffer? Is He the All-powerful? These skewed thoughts lead to something much more significant. They allow an individual to be manipulated and pawned upon. The Taliban prey on these weak minds and fill their militant agendas within their heads. They are no longer left the young, innocent souls they once were.
Conflicts end, disputes are settled, and the governments move on to more pressing matters. What about the children who will suffer the lifelong impacts of these adversities they had to face at such a young age? What about the mental health problems, the PTSD, the trauma that they are left to deal with? The soft aspects of the conflict are perhaps the most important aspects to consider, and yet, in Pakistan, they are given the least importance. Not only is there a need to advocate for mass education, but there is also a need to embed adequate conflict transformation frameworks within our system to protect our future.
I think this article has pinpointed the right questions we need to ask ourselves when examining the literacy rate of our country. One important factor that comes with a good education is that they are taught to think beyond and question. It is that exact questioning that alarms the state and those in power because it could potentially threaten their dominance. Realistically, if the masses were educated they would start questioning why the state is struggling to provide basic education and healthcare facilities when it takes millions of loans from international communities for these exact reasons. One key point in your article is why the Taliban has placed less importance in education. The way I see it, it is eerily…
I appreciate the way you've drawn attention to the 'soft aspects' of conflict, especially the lasting psychological and emotional toll on children in conflict zones like KPK.
You mentioned the Taliban's focus on targeting education, particularly for girls, and I wholeheartedly agree that this tactic is about limiting future empowerment. Education does indeed have the transformative power to disrupt cycles of violence and oppression. But I think there’s an even deeper layer here - by targeting educational institutions, they’re also dismantling the community’s sense of security and trust, creating a trauma-based social structure that could last generations. How might local and international organizations work together to rebuild not only educational institutions but also to implement long-term psychological support systems that…
I completely agree that education needs to cater to more than just giving children literacy in conflict-stricken areas. Social emotional education can be used to develop the social, emotional, and cognitive skills of children so they can have a better relationship with themselves as well as with others so they can adopt better coping mechanisms to deal with trauma. This will also enable students to focus more on school and be better at learning as they will be able to regulate their emotions and deal with them constructively. This brings into focus the role of schools and the state to train teachers so they can first learn these skills themselves and secondly implement them on students as well. This will…
Your blog's emphasis on the often-overlooked mental health aspects of conflict highlights a critical issue, making it very impactful. It’s alarming to see how the focus remains on immediate political and economic concerns while neglecting the emotional and psychological needs of children, who are the future of the country. The destruction of over 1,100 schools is not just a statistic; it represents shattered futures and lost potential for an entire generation, especially for girls who are disproportionately affected by such violence.
Moreover, you raise an important point about the long-term psychological impacts on children. The question of “Why me?” that children may ask reflects a deeper struggle with identity and purpose, leading to lasting trauma and susceptibility to extremist ideologies.…
This piece effectively raises awareness of the psychological effects of conflict on children, which are frequently disregarded. It is persuasive to emphasise how education serves as a safeguard for societal resilience as well as a tool for personal liberty. It is tragic that in addition to the trauma of losing their educational opportunities, children in areas like KPK are also at risk of being influenced by extremist ideas, which fill the void left by unmet emotional and educational demands. Your observation that post-conflict healing lacks mental health frameworks strikes a deep chord. It draws attention to the human cost of conflict—leaving children to deal with trauma on their own—by concentrating only on the political and economic components of healing. It appears…