Child Soldiering in the World

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

Are you aware that right now, at this very moment, there is a group of young boys ages 8-13 who are clenching a gun being ordered to kill against their will? It’s understood that others opinions about the dangers of child soldiers being free are only because they don’t want to risk anything but, isn’t life all about taking risks? You risk your life leaving the house, and breathing. Also, countries should not prosecute child soldiers for the crimes they committed during wartime. There also should not be an international minimum age of criminal responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Here are three reasons why they should not be prosecuted or held responsible. Also that there should not be an age limit. One. Children are afraid, young, and clueless. Two. Children are 99.99% of the time drugged, forced, and brainwashed. “Children are often brainwashed and drugged before they are forced to fight. Their vulnerability can allow warlords to make them into cold-blooded killers” (O'Neill 1 ). Three. Children are independent, lonesome, and they want/need a family. One that gives them love.

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.

Visualize men with guns breaking down your door and pointing them at your family. Now imagine these men taking your children, forcing them to serve in their military force. In only an instant, your children are gone and you are left with no knowledge of the fate of your kids. As terrifying and seemingly impossible as this imagined scenario may be, it is a stark reality for many families in third world countries. Where families fear not if their children will be taken but when those doors will be broken down, and their screaming children will be dragged out through the front door. The parents know that they cannot not stop these men even if they attempt to. Yet, in an unreasonable twist becoming a child soldier is not only a gamble with the reaper, but it is also a chance to survive. Enough food to survive is more or less guaranteed, while back at home the odds of surviving are insurmountably against them. Becoming a child soldier is a double edged sword that is neither ally nor enemy to the children. These children are abused and coerced into staying with the men who ripped them from their families. Those that attempt to escape or resist are torn down brutally in order to be rebuilt, while those that embrace it sacrifice their humanity and risk the onset of psychologically damaging PTSD, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Militias and rebel forces, strained on man power, turn to child soldiers as a cheap and readily available replacement source. Trained to become war hardened

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

Child soldiers should receive amnesty Amnesty is freedom from prosecution,when they are forgiven of what they did during war time. Overall it becomes clear that they do awful terrible things such as killing people,setting up an ambush and more. But most of the time they are taken from their families, brainwashed, drugged and forced to kill. Also punishing the child soldiers makes it easier for the commander, and it ruins and takes away their life while in the war and after the war, if they get out.

Greater attention and action against the worldwide use of child soldiers need to be addressed by the world community because children are being forced out of their homes, traumatized by all of the killings and dying surrounding them and they are being starved and beaten. Today, there are thousands of children involved in these armed jobs all around the world. There is an estimated 3,000 children, many under 16, including 500 girls in the army. (“Child Soldiers”)

Imagine a town full of content children getting an education, running around with friends and siblings in the field, and helping their mothers cook and clean in the house. Sadly one day, gunshots and screams echo throughout the whole town and the children are taken away from their families instantly and violently. There is nothing the parents can do about it. The children that were taken away are now not in control of their own lives and are forced to take other's lives. If the children are able to make it back home, people are able to see their fear, trauma, disabilities, and illnesses that have overpowered their childhood. Roughly 300,000 kids are turned into a soldier; around 100,000 boys and girls are from the Middle East (Mancini 34).

A child is an extreme victim because one day he or she may be sharing a meal with his or her family and the next day becomes branded by the emblem of guerrilla warfare. He or she is a perpetrator because, once the child is handed the gun and learns how to use it, the power rests in his or her hands. And, finally, the child is a hero fighting for a cause that is mostly likely incomprehensible to his or her developing intellect and is ready to die for the sake of its duration and influence. All three of these positions can be wrapped into a sphere of extremity because there is always one goal emphasized through a glorified, tunnel vision: to kill or be killed. Most concisely, a child soldier can be defined as a slave because he or she, upon initiation, has offered to the recruiter an oath of obedience and, unknowingly and without will, the opportunity for the recruiter to manipulate his or her mind under a system of pure, unyielding weaponry. As a form of modern slavery, the forced recruitment of child soldiers is congruent with the notion that slaves are considered property. An armed child is only a free pawn in the war for the rise of some political message. For

Children are one of the many victims of conflicts especially in places like Syria and Sudan where there is a constant exchange of combat. Many children lose their families or are abducted by one side and are left with nothing. These children have no choice but to join with which ever side will accept them, “Bosco was six years old when he was handed a machete by Ugandan rebels led by Joseph Kony. They demanded he kill his little sister (Juli)... Juli was five. She had to die because she couldn 't keep up with the rebels ' pace as they moved to the next location.” (Christina Ruta, 2013). The children that are pushed into military forces often are intimidated into following orders through means like

It has been observed that when interviewed, almost all the children living in war zones or near war zones are constantly in fear of becoming a child soldier. This is no way to live, life should be about pursuing happiness, not constantly watching for men coming to take a child away. There have been many different proposals to try and stop the use of child soldiers, but this is such a widespread problem that it is difficult to fix. New ideas are presented every day that may have the potential to stop the war crime that is using child soldiers. Cultures of Resistance Network have been endlessly fighting to stop the use of child soldiers. They have been working alongside the UN to create a law making it a crime to have children fight in wars. The website explained how they are working towards this goal, “One of Child Soldiers International's major goals is to promote the widespread adoption of international legal standards—including those enshrined in relevant sections of the UN Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child—prohibiting the military recruitment and use in hostilities of any person younger than eighteen years of age. The organization further works to promote the recognition and enforcement of these standards by all armed groups, both governmental and non-governmental” (End the Use of Child Soldiers). This new idea of creating a law that applies to every country is very possible solution. This idea is still in the early stages, so it is unclear whether it will be passed, but this has the potential to make a great difference. Getting these children out of war and into a safe place will be better for the future of the world. Another, similar way that the UN is working

My name is Abida and I am a student at Wayzata West Middle School. Imagine you, an innocent five year old, playing on the soccer field. Then, in an instant, you are blindfolded, and you feel hands on your back. You have been taken, no abducted. There is something heavy placed in your hand. It's a gun. A booming voice commands you, “Shoot,”. So, fearfully you do. You had killed your best friend that day. Fromm them on out, you are a spy, endure the worst physical torture, and are even sent out on the first lines of war. There are currently thirteen countries that use over 33 thousand child soldiers. Children as young as four can be apart of the military. Many of the children have been forced to join or join as a last resort. After these children

The first reason child soldiers usually be considered as the perpetrator because they murdered people, as often as most of them enjoy doing it. For example, a child soldier from Somalia, Awil Salah Osman said,“ what do I enjoy? I enjoy the gun”(Gettleman,2010). This reveals the impact of becoming a child soldier have changed what children like. Awil admit that he enjoys gun, it means he enjoys killing people. A person who wants to be forgiven won’t think of saying those words, instead they would shows how regret they feel of what they have done.In some of the cases, child soldiers were only share how enjoyment they were to kill people. This is the reason why child soldier should not be forgiven.

Child soldiers is a serious issue worldwide, there are about 300,000 children as young as nine years old involved in armed conflicts all around the globe today. This problem is most critical in Africa; however children are also used as soldiers in various Asian countries, parts of Latin America, Europe and Middle East. Children are used as child soldiers mostly by non government armed groups for many different reasons. Conditions are usually very harsh for the child soldiers and discipline is kept by brutal punishment. Life is very dangerous and characterized by a great amount of hard work in an environment that lack food, drinking water and no

Around 120,000 adolescent children are now engaged in conflicts throughout Africa (“Child Soldiers: An Overview” 4). In Sudan, for instance, thousands of children, some as young as 12, were recruited against their will into separatist and government groups (“Child Soldiers: An Overview” 5). Thousands more children have been enlisted into the armed forces throughout Asia and the Pacific. The most significant numbers are in Afghanistan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and recently, Cambodia. Myanmar, a country in Asia, has some of the most child soldiers throughout the world, with children being recruited into both non-government and government armed forces (“Child Soldiers: An Overview” 6). The number of child soldiers has been decreasing annually, but these children are still being taken against their will.