The Lost Boys

After watching the Lost Boys videos I have to say that I was very surprised about what I learned. I had in fact heard about them back when it was going on but I never really looked into it any further. I had heard that what was happening to these boys was horrific and I just could not bring myself to look into it any further, so I was not aware of the actual reasoning for the conditions they were facing in Sudan. One of the things that both surprised me and amazed me was that these boys were between the ages of 5 and 11 years old and had the stamina to make the journeys that they made. Some of the negative experiences that they had during their journeys were the fact that they had no food or water, and that they did the journeys barefoot. Most of them had lost their families and had no one to look out for them. One of the worst experiences that they faced was the memory of what they saw or had happened to them in Sudan. You can run from where it happened but you cannot run from the memories. After experiencing life in a refugee camp, which in itself can be a negative experience, some of the lucky ones came to America. Coming to America for them was a challenge because they had never used and utensils, or knew what lights were. As it was stated in the video they were coming from real life almost into a fantasy world. The modern world was very hard for them to grasp. The men in the video made the adjustment to life in this country very well. Things were a challenge for them but they persevered. The narrator did state that not all of the men that came over were as lucky. Some of the men were addicted to drugs or alcohol, and a few were in jail.

If I had any of these boys in my class two of the ways that I would help them would be to work with them in daily living skills. This is definitely a population that needed that. Another very important way that I would help them would be to teach them the hidden curriculum of the school. These boys would have never stepped foot inside of a school and this would be very helpful for them in order to succeed.