Klynn’s blog

HW 40: Responding to a Podcast, how Iraqi boys help their families.

“Iraqi Teens Work to Help Their Families”

Alive in Baghdad Series

10/15/07

http://aliveinbaghdad.org/2007/10/15/iraqi-teens-work-to-help-their-families

General Content:

This podcast covers the topic of teenage Iraqi children working to help their families financially. This video shows the interviews of three teenage boys all working to help out their families. One boy paints furniture, one is a carpenter, and the third goes to an agricultural college. Mustafa Malek Fathullah Ali, the carpenter, is 14 years old, a sixth grader. While listening to his voice, and reading the subtitles, the maturity of this young boy is clear. As he works on a table, possibly sanding it, the background looks almost all of a cement, dusty color. It looks as if other carpentry projects surround the space behind him.

Evaluantion:

While a viewer watches this podcast, most likely they will be struck by the great maturity these young boys possess. They all have been effected by the war in some way, and they all help work to support their families-even when they are at the age middle/high school students. One boy has learned the trade from his older brother, one does not understand why there is such fighting going on when the reasoning does not make sense, and one was born with a birth defect from the war. Compared to other videos, this video is in a way, very touching. It shows you the reality of what these young boys (and girls) have to do in order to survive. While children who aren’t first handedly effected by the war, can go to school everyday, socialize and play with friends, and be supported by their parents, these Iraqi children of the same age must work, not socialize, and support their parents. It’s a completely backwards situation. What I find most compelling about this video, as I’ve mentioned before, his how mature these young boys are. Most boys that age are incredibly immature, and probably would never even think of putting together a table, or painting one. It’s very obvious that these boys have had to grow up quickly, and they did it very well, the only sad part, is they will never be able to regain that childhood.