Children and Youth in Armed Conflict: Responses, Resistance, and Portrayal in Media: Volume 35

This volume explores the intersection of youth agency, media representation, and conflict, urging a reevaluation of the roles of youth in contemporary socio-political contexts. Media serves as a tool for and a site of resistance. Chapters in this volume highlight ways in which children and youth leverage digital platforms to reshape narratives around conflict and peace. The compilation draws from a wide range of contexts, from the Balkan Wars to the current conflicts in Syria and Ukraine, offering in-depth analyses of the transformative potential of the (re)imagining of youth experiences, thus shifting from passive subjects to active narrators. This reorientation emphasizes the role of new technologies, including digital media and artificial intelligence, in supporting these endeavors, especially in enhancing mental health and psychological resilience among children affected by conflict.

The narrative surrounding shaheed, or martyrdom, among Gaza’s youth, unfolds against the backdrop of intensified Israeli–Palestinian conflicts. In this piece, the author explores the layers of meaning that shaheed carries within this community, moving beyond the Western interpretations and stereotypes that often frame it within a solely negative light. Drawing from the Qur’anic concept of ayah and Kenneth Burke’s framework of narratives as “equipment for living,” the author offers an alternative viewpoint by showcasing how Palestinian youth, through the analytic of ayah, understand shaheed not as an endorsement of death but as a profound source of resilience and a scaffold for navigating the turbulent realities of conflict. In doing so, the author’s rhetoric analysis unveils the youth’s active role in shaping a narrative that bridges their immediate survival and broader existential beliefs, challenging the monolithic portrayal of their experiences and beliefs in mainstream media. This understanding positions shaheed within a broader existential and spiritual framework, revealing the complex relationship between cultural narratives, religious beliefs, and the lived realities of conflict.

The Children of the Balkan Wars, as a post-war generation in Bosnia–Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, and Serbia, share similar childhood war experiences, grew up in post-socialist societies, and live in comparable political and media systems. In our study about their practices relating to war-related media content based on qualitative interview data, we discovered that knowledge about the recent wars is very important for them. By interpreting the data against the background of everyday resistance theory, we argue that the findings show two main practices of media use: (1) avoidance of traditional media, which is perceived as distributing the official hegemonial narratives that are also transmitted within the family. (2) “Accommodating” as a form of everyday resistance: when it comes to war-related media content, members of the post-war generation become active media users. They expose historical facts or disseminate their own knowledge mainly online; they create their own content as a way of coping with the unsatisfying traditional (nationalistic, ethno-political) media offerings.

The prolonged civil war in Syria and the full-scale war in Ukraine have significantly impacted the nations’ children, yet Ukrainian and Syrian children found ways to express their agency. This comparative study centers on children’s first-hand accounts of conflict through a feminist geopolitical approach and interpretive textual analysis methods to explore common themes children express in diaries, how resistance is articulated, and how other actors mediate these narratives. Informed by feminist geopolitics, the authors investigate how the everyday practice of narrating their experiences provides children with a space to articulate their perspectives on war-related experiences. This research employs thematic analysis to explore four Ukrainian and four Syrian children’s diaries. In this chapter, the authors discuss three salient themes from the diaries: (1) trauma and fear; (2) loss of normalcy; and (3) coping, hope, and resilience. The authors argue that these themes demonstrate children’s agency and that diaries can be read as a medium of resistance. This chapter also pays attention to how such narratives are mediated, commodified, and even controlled by adults for political objectives. This chapter, thus, contributes to the discussion of the nature of children’s experiences in armed conflict. Furthermore, it explores how children’s agency is potentially articulated, manipulated, and restricted in everyday sites.

Sites of armed conflict produce significant human suffering. Children are some of the most tragic victims of these conflicts, and their suffering is often used as a colloquial measure of suffering at large. Children in conflict zones are likely to experience trauma and associated negative mental and physical health consequences such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). One way that children and youth cope with their circumstances in these environments is through creative outlets such as art and poetry. Not only does trauma influence the content of children’s art, but the creation of art also influences children’s responses to trauma and conflict. Furthermore, in the same way that children may humanize those living in conflict zones, so too does their art. While the art of children typically lacks the sophistication of high art or classic poetry, there is a genuineness to their work that resonates with others and allows them to see the conflict through a child’s eyes. This chapter covers the relationships between armed conflict, trauma, and children, followed by art as a form of resistance generally, then finally the role of art and poetry as a form of children’s resistance.

Young children are particularly vulnerable in times of war and conflict, but they often emerge as resilient agents of change, promoting social justice and community rebuilding post-conflict. The likelihood of this type of trauma response, however, is largely dependent upon the tactical interventions offered to them during the trauma experience. News media portrayals of war and conflict can serve to heighten negative effects for children living in conflict zones, but entertainment and curriculum-based media can be used strategically to mitigate or moderate those effects.

Since capital is not evenly distributed across the world geography, each geography has different ways of life. Likewise, capitalism prevails within nation-states, which are the governorships of capital, and this is the main cause of inequalities. These inequalities lead to the consumption of a different industry in areas where industry or consumer culture cannot spread: The arms industry. For this, the conflict of elements with the necessary ethnic or sectarian distinctions is triggered and encouraged by the nation-state’s and corporations’ policies. The state, as the governorship of capitalism and the companies behind it, supports the consumption of the products of the arms industry, one of the most important economic factors of capitalism, precisely in these areas. Conflicts between armies and so-called “terrorist” groups are very convenient and functional points for the arms industry to find new markets. In this study, the reality of “stone-throwing children,” which is a part of the Kurdish people’s struggle for existence, has been going on in various grammars for nearly a hundred years, and the representation of this reality in mainstream newspapers in Turkey will be shown. The Diyarbakır branch of the Human Rights Association of Turkey and 11 non-governmental organizations have reported that between 2006 and 2010, 4,000 children between the ages of 12 and 18 were detained or imprisoned for periods ranging from 2 months to 4 years. The findings of academic articles on the representation of stone-throwing children in the media will be summarized.

Children in armed conflict sites exist as a representative of the beginning of life in a space that serves as a constant reminder of the end of life. When children die in these spaces, they become representatives of the pervasive death that looms in and around armed conflict sites. Narrating children through online memorials is one way in which to breathe life back into these children and highlight the atrocities in armed conflict spaces. Looking specifically at the Syrian Civil War, this piece examined English language memorials for children who have died in the Syrian Civil War to understand narrative similarities and differences. The authors first hypothesized that regardless of the post, children were regarded with positive language, as established by previous child memorial research. Second, we hypothesized that there could be some noticeable differences in who’s to blame for the children’s death in two main ways: blaming the regime of Bashar Al-Assad or the Armed Syrian Opposition. Despite focusing on memorials about children, children were missing from the memorials (Theme A: Where Are the Children?). Ever present in the memorials was the conflict between Bashar Al-Assad and the Armed Syrian Opposition (Theme B: Blame Game: Bashar Al-Assad and the Armed Syrian Opposition). This chapter expanded the research areas of online narratives, children in armed conflict sites, and the end-of-life topic area.

Amid the Israel-Hamas conflict in October 2023, social media platforms such as Instagram, have emerged as crucial platforms for millions seeking real-time insights, as well as those disseminating information about the conflict. Trending search terms on Instagram, such as “graphic Israel footage”, “live stream in Israel right now,” or #FreePalestine and #SaveSheikhJarrah, revealed a collective thirst for unfiltered frontline perspectives by users. Interestingly, individuals actively posting about the conflict experienced shifts in follower engagement, exemplified by the suspension of activist, Shaun King, whose 6-million followership Instagram account was disabled in December 2023.¹ Digital platforms play critical roles in escalating tensions, exposing governmental cruelty, and rallying international support (Burum, 2016; David, 2014). The case of Palestine and Israel underscores online media’s role in constructing narratives and mobilizing resistance. This study seeks to illuminate the connection between visual storytelling, youth activism, and social media dynamics during conflict (Abushbak et al., 2020; Burum, 2016; David, 2014; Pruchnic, & Ceraso, 2020). This chapter examines textual and visual content by applying Textual-Visual Thematic Analysis to content posted on Instagram. This is done to understand Instagram users’ discourse in October 2023 on Instagram. It analyzes how content shapes narratives and seeks to identify any patterns in the narratives shared by selected Instagram users. As such, this study aims to offer insights into the role that social media, particularly Instagram, plays in influencing narratives, fostering youth activism, and shaping public discourse during conflict.

In this chapter, the author compares two representations of the child from two famous films by the Fifth Generation’s top director in China, Chen Kaige, Yellow Earth (1984) and Together (2002). The girl’s story in the former and the boy’s story in the latter show respectively the dissolution of the Party/state as an extended family home, and it being replaced by the atomized, fluid, and flexible family home in the new state-led neo-liberal order. Compared with the girl, the boy in the new century tries to convey an equally lyrical articulation of the family/home, but differently, with a strong sense of his subjectivity. Thus, the boy’s voice in Together, self-reflective, artistically innovative, and affective, becomes a voice of resistance against authoritarian neoliberalism in post-socialist China.

The nineties of the 20th century were marked by wars at the breakup of Yugoslavia, by a generation of children whose lives turned overnight. Many had to leave their homes and become refugees. What was a reality for many children is also reflected in literature whose protagonists are coming-of-age children. The novels Ukulele Jam by Alen Mešković and Hotel Zagorje by Ivana Simić Bodrožić as a primary motive take European tragedy whose consequences still resonate today. There are two ways in which youth literature represents war – as the scenery or as the central theme of a story. War is a political and social event whose effects are transmitted to everyone regardless of gender, age, or social status. As the portrayal of literary heroes strives to be as believable and authentic as possible, the lives of literary characters trapped in the vortex of war reflect the same characteristics. Life routines change; there is often a school dropout, lack of food, children’s play changes, and children, in addition to the general poverty and chaos, also face the loss of friends, family members, violence, and home. The environment often begins to reject them. In the formerly known world, they appear as aliens who need to be removed or adapted to the new society. The transition from the socialist to the capitalist socio-economic system was based on repeated repatriarchalization, in particular in strengthening the old public and private dichotomies and reviving conservative ideologies on the family and gender.

In 2002, the organization, Jamat Al Asunnah Lid-Da’wa’l-Jihad popularly known as Boko Haram was created in North Eastern Nigeria. This organization which was founded by Mohammed Yusuf was to later adopt the ideology that Western Education was Forbidden. The decolonial stance of Boko Haram later degenerated into its campaign of violence, leading to the killing of its founder by the Nigerian state. Interestingly, the role of children in the advancement of the Boko Haram insurgency and how this impacts their psychological lives seems to have been overlooked in scholarship on terrorism. There remains a dearth of critical underpinning on how all of the above is represented in Nigerian film. To this end, this study examines child participation in terrorism in Nigeria and its effect on the psychological well-being of the child. Using the Boko Haram terrorist group as a paradigm, the authors argue that children, especially the girl child play a major role in the advancement of terrorism in Nigeria. The study engages in a content analysis of Uche Aguh’s film, Sambisa (2016) to interrogate the challenges the child encounters in the face of terrorism in Nigeria and examines children as major actors in the enterprise of terrorism in Nigeria.

In 1966, Palestinian writer Ghassan Kanafani coined the term “literature of resistance” through his seminal work “Resistance Literature in Occupied Palestine 1948–1966” (Harlow, 1987). This genre focuses on depicting experiences of resistance and resilience amidst colonization, often investigating the personal struggles of writers within contexts of injustice and oppression. When created for children and youth, the literature of resistance diverges from that intended for adults due to many reasons. Eventually, this genre aims to engage children with significant societal issues such as patriotism, liberty, disdain for injustice, and the fundamental importance of justice. This chapter explores examples within the realm of children’s literature of resistance, encompassing both stories and novels tailored for young and teenage audiences. The chapter comprises four main sections. Firstly, a comprehensive introduction will elucidate the concept of resistance literature and underscore its scholarly significance. The second part will examine existing literature, highlighting thematic foundations and prevalent discourse within this genre. Subsequently, the third part will outline criteria used to ensure chosen narratives align with the overarching theme of resistance, followed by an examination of selected stories in terms of their literary and narrative aspects. Lastly, the fifth part will detail the dual analytical approach employed to offer a comprehensive understanding of how resistance is conveyed in the chosen narratives and the extent to which these stories fulfill their intended objectives.

This chapter introduces EmoGenPath, an innovative machine learning-based model designed to deliver adaptive therapy to children and youth affected by the trauma of armed conflict. The model synthesizes advanced artificial intelligence (AI) techniques, including convolutional neural networks for emotion recognition and an advantage-actor critic-trained reinforcement learning model for therapeutic content tailoring toward goal achievement, to provide a dynamic and personalized therapeutic experience. Recognizing the importance of empathetic and culturally sensitive interventions, EmoGenPath offers a unique approach by prioritizing the emotional states and individual narratives of its users. In regions where conflict has impeded traditional mental health services, this model aims to bridge the gap, facilitating resilience and recovery through a virtual therapeutic environment that can be accessed via low-bandwidth internet connections, ensuring broader reach and impact. This chapter emphasizes the ethical implementation of AI in sensitive settings. It discusses the imperative of privacy, security, and inclusive design, ensuring that the model is responsive to diverse emotional expressions across different ethnicities and backgrounds. Additionally, it outlines the potential of such a model to scale therapeutic resources effectively, delivering tailored interventions with a compassionate approach.