Colombia’s Children at Risk of Recruitment into Armed Groups: Exploring a Community-Based, Psychosocial Pedagogy

The protracted violent conflict in Colombia has resulted in the internal displacement of over 4.3 million people (IDMC, 2008) and the enlistment of 11,000 to 14,000 children into one of the guerrilla or paramilitary groups. At least 30 percent of the combatants in Colombia’s armed groups are children, and over tens of thousands more child soldiers exist in the world. Children in rural and marginalized areas of Colombia are often targeted by armed groups for recruitment or social cleansing, which is the killing of youth for not abiding by imposed community rules (WatchList, February 2004). Based on research conducted in an illegal, paramilitary controlled territory in Colombia, this article offers insights into how education may increase protection of displaced, violence-affected children by addressing their layers of risk factors through a community-based, psychosocial pedagogy.