Room 101 Essay – War E.
Wakefield
Imagine a world where you can’t go outside because if you do, you will probably get shot.
Where you cry yourself to sleep at night worrying about the ones you love dearly. Where
you can’t go to a single place without seeing war. This is what the world could be like very
soon. It’s crazy how we humans can create the most beautiful things but also destroy
everything in our paths. War should go into Room 101; here is why.
When people talk about war, they often use quotes like “Old men talking, young men
fighting.” I could agree with this more. Why should young people like myself be giving out
their lives for people who sit around all day sipping tea? In WW1, the generals would be
living in nice, big, cozy houses miles away from the trenches, while the soldiers would be
crawling through the mud, keeping those generals safe. And don’t get me started on the
last few prime ministers we’ve had. I know that I would never want to fight for them. I mean,
who would? They have done nothing good for this country and have lost us lots of money
that we don’t have.
It’s not just during war that it has the biggest consequences; after war can be just as bad.
Women in the military are three times more likely to commit suicide because they don’t get
the respect or help they deserve. These statistics are horrific, as these women are
someone's daughters, mothers, sisters, or best friends. Nobody should feel like the only
way out is to kill themselves. 7 out of every 100 soldiers will get PTSD at some point in their
lives from traumatic events they have been through or seen. This causes them to lash out
violently, maybe even towards the ones they love. The loved ones can then sadly become
scared of the person and even leave them. Nobody deserves this, do they?
What more if a reason do you need, then people get killed? It’s inhuman for us to kill each
other; it scars us for life, haunting us for the rest of our times until we slowly go insane.
During the Afghan War, over 176,000 people were killed, 47,000 of whom were civilians.
That’s over 176,000 families that have either lost someone at that time or have been
changed severely due to an injury that someone in their family got. Why did those other
47,000 civilian families need this? Surely if they aren’t involved in the war then they
shouldn’t be effected right? In Japan during World War II, two of their major cities got
flattened by nukes, killing almost everyone inside these cities. Yes, it did make them
surrender, but did we really need to kill those civilians? Wasn’t there another way we could
have them surrender?
“But why will we do without war?” people say. Well, why don’t we use non-violent means to
prevent wars? We could have a nice little chat. I know it doesn’t happen often, but imagine
what it would do. We could have an international court where people could talk (not shout)
with each other about the reasons they want war. If they say they want their land back, why
don’t we question them on why they would need it back? Another thing is that no matter the
country, they should be treated fairly so as not to be biased in any way, so like if it was
America saying they want to take over Mexico, then we should be fair and see Mexico’s
point of view; not just let America do it because their America. Many people say that the
only way to make something happen is to be violent, but it is shown that if you are violent,
people will only retaliate worse. And seriously, nobody should be in this position.
In conclusion war is overall worse that what people could ever think. From horrible stats on
suicide, to destruction of land and families, to hundreds of thousands of people dying in
wars, there are many more reasons why war should go into room 101. I believe that we
should stop wars as much as we can, and if possible stop them from ever happening again.
Should we really be in a world where you can’t go a single place without seeing war, death
and destruction?
