Abstract

In contemporary societies, where children continue to be recruited as soldiers, treated as disposables, placed in chain-link cages and dying for lack of water and food, we ask what role education should play in contesting this type of dehumanization and normalization of violence against children? How can our educational efforts contribute to the emancipation of these children? This essay aims to reflect on the critical role that education should play in the traumatic context of war. Inspired by Paulo Freire’s liberating pedagogical practice and Latina liberation theology, this chapter proposes some ways in which we can participate in the process of physical, social, psychological, and spiritual healing that children affected by the traumatic experiences of armed conflict need to undertake. This joint effort between children and adults will reinvigorate children’s resilient ability to help them overcome their traumatic circumstances and enhance their capacity to hope and dream.