As I sit here in a cozy, warm, well-lit room and look at the agenda on my desk with this week's planner open in front of me, I have a game I'm looking forward to watching and a new cell phone I want my parents to buy for me.
As I look at the newspaper and read about all these conflicts around the world, I cannot help but wonder about other children my age.
In Rwanda, a boy my age is fighting the Hutu tribe just so he could fend for his siblings. He lives his life amidst bloodshed and terror he has been accustomed to since he was a child. He cannot go to school because it has been bombed and the teacher was shot during an attack from the neighbouring tribe.
In Sierra Leone, an eight-year-old girl willingly accepted money from a man to go into the diamond mines and bring back as many stones as she could find.
In Angola, every night, the men and the boys of the villages have to guard their houses and protect their families from attacks by the rebel groups who rape and pillage their women and village.
As many as 300,000 children under the age of 18 are fighting in war-torn areas around the world. Several thousands more are recruited against their will and are being sent into combat every minute.
We're fortunate enough to have a school and teachers who are willing to teach us. We have no threat of prosecution and can sleep peacefully at night. We do not have to worry about feeding our siblings.
I find it so ironic that we want to abuse drugs while children in other countries don't have choices.
The children in these countries are denied a childhood and education, and subjected to extreme violence. They're forced into armed conflicts that leave them psychologically scarred or physically disabled. The future for those who survive is desperately bleak.
If people in North America were introduced to the harsh realities children in Africa face, maybe then we shall have a different outlook on life and not take things for granted, appreciate our peers and make use of the opportunities we are given.
The secondary schools should have global awareness programs to help raise funds and educate students about conflicts and situations around the world.
Our community could help the children around the world by giving them a chance for a better life through giving funds, sending aid or sponsoring a child.
