Katie Couric's Notebook: Congo Child Soldiers
The loss of innocence in William Golding's book is allegory. In Congo, it's real and happening every day.
Children, some as young as ten, are kidnapped by rebels and forced into battle and sexual slavery.
Organizations like UNICEF have been pleading for their release. Some 30,000 children have returned home since 2004. But there, most relive the painful memories. And many are shunned by family and friends for actions they were forced to perform in a grownup war.
No immediate solution will come from within Congo, a nation torn apart by ethnic warfare.
It will take increased awareness and action on the part of the global community to protect these young children and prevent these lost boys and girls from becoming a generation of lost men and women.
That's a page from my notebook.