The Invisible Trauma of conflict: The psychological toll on children

• Niwal Zahid
• Oct 25, 2024
• 2 min read

Updated: Oct 27, 2024

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. 

• Media and Education
• Media and Conflict