Child Soldiers At Home

Claim: Those so-called “child soldiers” shouldn’t be held accountable for their actions, because they are just innocent souls that are fighting in wars filled with violent, horrific and extremely dangerous incidents and sights, which shapes them into powerless and nameless individuals who are in a position where they have no logical awareness of.

As a kid have you ever thought what is would be like to be in the army? Well child soldiers as young 8 are living that day after day because that is there only choice. All of these children have been taught how to live as a soldier,the children don’t have any family, and how to kill without any mental effect. These child soldiers are victims of war and torture.

Can you imagine as a nine year old, witnessing your families killed and being told you must fight in a war or you will be killed? Left with only the hope of a better life including shelter and enough food to live on, being brainwashed by drugs, and seeing blood and gore at such a young age, these children have far from a standard childhood. These children’s only wish isare to come out alive. But if they are lucky enough to make it out of the war, they should not have to worry about going to prison. Child Soldiers should not be prosecuted for the crimes they committed during the war because they have been influenced by commanders by false promises, drugs, and threats in order to recruit them to fight in the war,

Children aren’t mature enough to make life or death decisions. All child soldiers should have a chance to be forgiven. “Others enlist ‘voluntarily’, usually because they see few alternatives.” ("From Cradle to War." Amnesty International. Amnesty International USA, Web. 3 May 2016.) Children aren’t wise enough to make the decision, and deserve a chance to be forgiven, just like an immigrant has a chance to become a citizen. And even though once someone is killed, they are permanently dead, the children who kill don’t really know what they’re

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.

A lot of the children interviewed within the first chapter of Peter W. Singer’s book Children at War are under the age of 12. They speak of torturing people in the most horrific of ways. Such as when joining the paramilitaries, A., age twelve, states that the first thing they make you do is kill someone. A random person is picked for the recruits to chop off his hands and arms. It is important to realize however, that not all of these child soldiers are as young as 7. Singer explains that a “A ‘child soldier’ is generally defined (under both international law and common practice) as any person under eighteen years of age who is engaged in deadly combat or combat support as part of an armed force or group.” What is most horrendous is

Children all across world are being exploited as child soldiers. Everyday kids younger the age of 10 are putting their lives on the line mostly by force. ¨Over the last ten years, two million children have been killed in conflict. Over one million have been orphaned, over six million have been seriously injured or permanently disabled and over ten million have been left with serious psychological trauma.¨(Children In Conflict). A child soldier is a child with armed forces; they’re trained to fight, cook, be porters, messengers, informant spies, etc. Countries all across the world have been using children to fight, places like the United Kingdom, Africa, and Asia lean on children to do their dirty work regardless of what laws are put into place for recruitment age.

First off, child soldiers are held against their will to do dangerous tasks that they have no say in. In an article interviewing Ishmael Beah, a former child soldier, he states, "Somebody being shot in front of you, or you yourself shooting somebody became just like drinking a glass of water. Children who refused to fight, kill or showed any weakness were ruthlessly dealt with.”

For many years, countless children have been used in wars. These kids are forced by their scheming commanders with drugs, false obligations, and threats. They are told to kill innocent people, destroy homes and buildings, act as spies, and so much more. According to child-soldiers.org, “two million children have been killed in conflict. Over one million have been orphaned, over six million have been seriously injured or permanently disabled and over ten million have been left with serious psychological trauma.” Child soldiers endure many unimaginable sights, sounds, and actions that are very harmful to their young, developing minds. While child soldiers are accountable for many crimes, they should still be given a second chance instead of

Even though kids under the age of 12 can’t be held accountable for crimes and actions, what these child soldiers are doing would cause a lifetime sentence in prison for any adult. Child soldiers have been involved in the most brutal acts. In an article that discusses the issue it says,”In Sierra Leone, child soldiers have committed acts of rape, mutilations and mass killings of civilians.” This is just only one of the many times child soldiers would do such a thing as this. Nobody in their right mind would participate in such act. Such things are inhuman and whoever is caught in the act, no matter the age, should be stopped or even put to death.

I believe that former child soldiers can become functional members of society. Children are extremely resilient and can bounce back from traumatic experiences. However, the treatment and care that they need to overcome this traumatic ordeal is not provided to these children as child soldiering almost always occurs in impoverished countries. This means that the facilities and experts that are needed to care for them are not available. But I also think that a lot of family and community

Child soldiers are struggling with recovering from their unbearable life they lived involving wars and deaths. These are children who become fearless and careless on killing innocent lives such as their own blood, in order to keep themselves alive. These children are either considered victims or perpetrators, but their isn’t a wrong or right answer. Child soldiers live in a terrible place that isn’t required for these children. Throughout society today there has been multiple arguments on how to categorize these children in. Some may argue, Child soldiers are perpetrators because they’re well matured to make their own decision and are well capable of having protection. However, others may argue that these children are victims because they’re

In my opinion, I believe child soldiers should be given amnesty unless they kill. Once they have that burden they should be given harsher sentences and without restraints to what can and can’t happen to them. One example of a child soldier who was given legal forgiveness is Ishmael Beah. Ishmael was forced into being a soldier after he was separated from his family at the age of 12. Ishmael dreaded being a soldier and seeing innocent people being killed. The only reason he stayed was because he he needed a place to stay. Running away also meant the risk of being shot, kidnapped, tortured, and killed. In other words Nobody dared try and escape, for they would surely die. Ishmael was also addicted to drugs. The commander would use drugs, such a cocaine, to control the children. They soon would become dependent and and do whatever needed to fulfill their bodies need for drugs. In 1997, Ismael and several other children were rescued by the UNICEF. When Ishmael arrived in the U.S, he underwent a rehabilitation process that helped him to adjust to a civil way of life. He went on trial but was given amnesty due to his age and the severity of his war crimes. Ishmael claims he cannot remember whether he killed or not, and if he did there was not a sufficient amount of evidence to prove he commit a crime. This is why Ishmael was given legal forgiveness, and in this case It was an agreeable

Children recruited into the armed forces in these countries are forced by their commanders to commit atrocities against other soldiers and villagers. They may also suffer through punishments themselves. Commanders have been known to force their child recruits to witness and/or commit abuses against their own families or captured prisoners (“Coercion and Intimidation of Child Soldiers to Participate in Violence” 1). For instance, child soldiers recruited into Uganda’s Lord’s Resistance Army have been forced to tie their parents to trees and club them to death or be killed themselves (Taylor 1). Physical