Armed And Under Aged: Article Analysis

The use of child soldiers have become a normal contribution to armies, especially in countries such as Africa. Although, countries such as Afghanistan, India, and Libya have been using child soldiers since 2011. According to “Children in Conflict: Child Soldiers,” there has been 36 countries involved since 1998. Something needs to be done about this issue due to the fact that thousands of

Recently, two million children have died over the past ten years due to becoming a child soldier. A huge deplorable development that has extended recently is the increase of child soldiers. Children are constantly being used as soldiers for various reasons. In some countries, there are more child soldiers than they are adults because children are more compliant. Children have been exploited as soldiers because they are being recruited to do a violent action, it is difficult for them to, later on, assimilate back to their lives, and child soldiers are regularly used in developing countries.

Suicide bombers, rebel groups, minefield clearers, and soldiers are words used to describe these children in a terrible situation. In places like Afghanistan, Iran, and Guantanamo Bay children as young as 5 years old are apprehended from their families, and are taken to army camps to fight against the U.S-backed government. These children are so innocent, but many think that they need to be arrested for what they are doing. Instead of playing on a playground with their families they are brainwashed, drugged, forced to kill, and poisoned with alcoholic beverages.

Since they are forced to leave their homes, kids miss out on getting an education, spending time with family, making friends, and enjoying peaceful, carefree lives. Being recruited into war changes their childhood forever. They live in fear of getting killed or harmed, and have to murder other people themselves. If they don’t, they risk getting shot or abused by commanders. An article on hrw.org (2004) states that many children are “victims of killings, rape and sexual assault, abduction, torture, forced labor and displacement at the hands of the warring factions.” This reveals that when children are forced into war, they no longer get to enjoy the fun and simple childhood everyone deserves. Rather, they must live up to adult responsibilities and perform abhorrent crimes. In addition, these children are often given many drugs to make them more inclined to kill. An article on vision.org (2008) talks about a child soldier rehabilitation camp director that has reported that kids “would do just about anything that was ordered” while on drugs. The use of drugs in young people dangerously affects their overall health and alters their minds substantially. Also, Child Soldiers International notes that child soldiers “run a high risk of being killed or maimed.” This clearly describes the health and future of these children as they are forced into war. As can be seen, recruiting kids into war negatively affects their physical state and their

While there were some problems during the World Wars, today there is no significant problem with child soldiers in powerful countries, such as the USA, Britain, and other UN countries. Sadly, there are countries that do use children, including Somalia, Iraq, Mali, and others in Africa and around the Middle East. The logic behind why children are chosen for soldiers is sad and disturbing. Children are recruited because they can be persuaded to fight for things

Picture this, you’re a nine year old boy fighting against men and other young boys your age. You are stationed in the philippines, where you were also abandoned by your parents, as they fled to a safer place. You are brainwashed, taught how to clean, and reload guns in the first few weeks you are there. How would this make you feel? Kids as young as eight, are dealing with this problem, they are getting drugged and used to fight for their country. Everywhere they look violence is near and cannot be escaped. Child soldiers are threatened, brainwashed, and bribed in order to fight and they are used to get money, meaning the young kids are being sold. These children are also illegally forced to become child soldiers. The things these kids go through are horrifying to even

Kassie Cordier Child Soldiers In discussions of child soldiers, one controversial issue has been if they should be granted amnesty for killing people. On the one hand, people who believe child soldiers are harmful argue that they should be prosecuted. On the other hand, people who think they were forced into fighting contend that they shouldn’t be prosecuted. The fact that they killed people, might kill more people and we shouldn’t promoting child soldiers has made the best option of dealing with them to not grant child soldiers amnesty.

This report highlights the controversial issues regarding child solders recruited for combat in Iraq. There is a total of approximately 10 million child soldier in Iraq are involve in the terrorist organisation, Islamic State. Child soldier in the Islamic State are usually use as spies, messengers, lookouts or in propaganda. Throughout history, Iraqi children have been engaged in war as early as the Gulf War in 1991 as well as the Iran-Iraq war.

In the world today, there are over 250,000 child soldiers fighting for their lives (Goodwin).During the Sierra Leonean civil war in 1991-2002, the United Nations estimated that there were over 7,000 child soldiers being used on both sides (Maclay). The conditions during the war were terrible and in 2002 over 50,000 people were dead, however nobody came to help and put troops on the ground. There were over 2.5 million citizens in Sierra Leone forced to leave their homes which is almost half of the entire population. No one came to help because they did not care about the African citizens living in the 3rd the world country. Other countries did not want to become involved in a war if they were not required too. This idea is related to Aaronson’s

All around the world there are nearly 300,000 child soldiers. Should they all be prosecuted as criminals, or given the chance to change in rehab facilities? This is a very touchy topic for many people, as they may have been personally affected by child soldiers involved in violent conflicts all over the world. There are many ways the children could get into these awful wars. They could be forced into it via poverty, loss of parents, loss of home, or they join the army on their own accord, believing that they are helping the rebel cause. Child soldiers are becoming more and more common in poverty or war stricken countries. Should these children be prosecuted for doing things they have no interest in doing or be treated as victims and be allowed

When you think about the continent of Africa and the countries that lie within, unpleasant thoughts of the horrible things that happen there are all too common. As unfortunate as this is, it's the cold truth for the underdeveloped continent. Everywhere you can think of in Africa has some kind of tragedy going on, whether it's people living without knowing what a home life is like, or if it's the constant death and disease. Unbeknownst to most people outside of Africa, one of the most common tragedies taking place is the manipulation and militarization of children. There is a plethora of militias out there, those that either abduct and force children into joining them, or those that manipulate children by making them think their only solution to misfortune is to fight. It's a sickening, yet also depressing, thing to think about, and it's no wonder that people choose to stay ignorant of the subject.

There are hundreds of thousands of children who are currently accommodating in combat for a rebel group or government (“Facts About Child Soldiers”). For example, during the civil war of Sierra Leone from 1991 to 2001, the use of children as soldiers became more rampant ("Child soldiers in Sierra Leone"). The rebel group Revolutionary United Front of Sierra Leone coerced children to join them in combat by intimidating and abducting them. They would also rape

For instance, a report from irinnews.org states that “Children are often desired as recruits because they can be easily intimidated and indoctrinated. They lack the mental maturity and judgment to express consent or to fully understand the implications of their actions… and are pushed by their adult commanders into perpetrating atrocities,” the report said.(JOHANNESBURG, October 6, 2011). This report shows how these kids are not the criminals, they are the real victims and are just confused on what is going on. After recruitment If these kids showed any fear at all or refused to carry out an order, they faced severe consequences and even death. To give an example, a Rwandan refugee talks about how scared he, and probably many other kids felt “ I was so afraid of dying, but my friends warned me that if the rebel commanders detected any fear in me they would kill me”(Charles age 12, Rwandan refugee). This goes to show that these kids are not hardened war criminals, they are fearful and are too young and naive to be ready for the front lines of war. These kids should not be the ones at fault the commanders and the ones giving the orders should be the ones punished and thrown in jail for they have committed the real crimes by taking these kids futures away from them and took advantage of their lack of

“Compelled to become instruments of war, to kill and be killed, child soldiers are forced to give violent expression to the hatreds of adults” (“Child Soldiers” 1). This quotation by Olara Otunnu explains that children are forced into becoming weapons of war. Children under 18 years old are being recruited into the army because of poverty issues, multiple economic problems, and the qualities of children, however, many organizations are trying to implement ways to stop the human rights violation.

Wars always have disastrous effects on civilians, in particular on children who are growing up in a world of violence and are surrounded by atrocities and deaths. It can be even more traumatic when children find themselves taking an active part in conflicts. Indeed in numerous conflicts, combatants aged under eighteen, and therefore considered as ‘child soldiers’, are involved. Although international law expressly prohibit the recruitment and use of youths aged under fifteen, about 300,000 child soldiers are currently taking part in hostilities, and many do not have the legal age to do so. Some are enrolled by force, but many volunteer for various reasons. Some claim that children should not have anything to do with political issues and wars and thus should not be prosecuted, while others claim that all children are not purely victims and may be partly responsible for their acts. This essay argues that because they are children, child soldiers cannot be prosecuted along with adults, and should rather benefit of support programmes in order to enable their reintegration into the civilian society. However this reintegration may takes years and cannot be successful until it is sure that children are no longer a threat for the society or for themselves, and it may require that children spend time in detention centers for minors until they are no longer a danger. The first part will focus on the different situations that can lead children to become soldiers. I will then explain