Child Soldiers Be Prosecuted Analysis

First off, child soldiers are often forced to be recruited. “Often they are abducted at school, on the streets or at home.” ("From Cradle to War." Amnesty International. Amnesty International USA, Web. 3 May 2016.) Almost all child soldiers are forced to do things as a soldier that they wouldn’t actually do, such as hurt or kill others. So although some child soldiers want to hurt or kill, most don’t want to. So obviously, most child soldiers are forced to do bad things that they don’t want to do, and wouldn’t do if they hadn’t become a soldier.

Children are forced by commanders through false promises. Many believe that child soldiers are not morally responsible for the actions they perform. I think that is unfair for kids my age to be dealing with this situation and having to deal with this every day their commanders. And i agree child soldiers should not be blamed they are not responsible for their actions only if someone is telling them do or something bad will happen to you or his family. This type of situation is called amnesty because you are dealing with some commanders and some horrible living conditions.

The children in the war were in a kill or be killed situation. The children didn’t have a choice except to follow orders from their commanders or they would get killed. They had to fight and kill others to stay alive. A quote from the article “Child Soldiers” (To what extent should child soldiers be held accountable for their crimes?) states, “Furthermore, many children join without carefully thinking through their decision. At the time they might believe that recruiting would lead to a safer life as necessities such as food, water and shelter would be available; actually fighting in war would not cross their mind.” This quote proves that child soldiers are victims because the only reason that some joined was because they had to or else they would die. Also because when they joined they didn’t really know what was going to happen and they didn’t know about the all of the mass killings that would occur. They were just focused on staying alive and getting the basic necessities that they needed like food, water, and shelter. If they wouldn’t have joined then they could have died from hunger or the harsh weather. They chose to defend themselves by joining the

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.”

Many children in America do not consider the problem of child soldiers happening around the world today as an issue, and many do not even think about it. Child Soldiers are a continuous problem that should be stopped instantly. Child Soldiers are innocent children who are forced into armed forces and non- state armed groups. Today, there are approximately 300,000 child soldiers in war, and 40% of armed forces are using these children as soldiers. These children are helpless and have little to no choice to go into war and leave their family behind.

Child Soldiers is a major global issue which is affecting todays 21st century. Many Countries around the world are illegally operating child soldiers such as Burma and Sierra Leone currently there is a crisis as many more children are being subject to this cruel act. Many world media and Non-governmental organisations such as the guardian and Human rights watch have reported thousands of child soldiers in Myanmar Burma. The Convention on the rights of a child and the Universal declaration of human rights strictly prohibits children in armed conflict further the United Nations further prohibits children in armed conflicts. The International Criminal Court has previously dealt with Thomas Labunga a leader of the liberation forces of the Congo whom used children as young as 10 in his military . However these measures have not been effective as there are still children in conflict due to state sovereignty.

Some people may say that child soldiers are not morally responsible for their actions due to many reasons. Normally, child soldiers are under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol. This means that they were not in the right state of mind when they made their decisions. A child's brain isn't

All around the world more than 10 million children under the age of 18 are fighting in a war. More than half voluntarily, and the other fourth forced. These children are drugged, and taught that it is good to be a slaughterer, a murderer. Yes, some don’t have a choice. But to think of all the things they were mindlessly taught. Do you really think they can change, just like that? Child soldiers have been responsible for some of the most brutal and violent acts in wartime, and many who are released into the real world, end up going back into their old ways. Not prosecuting child soldiers may encourage commanders to use more child soldiers to commit war crimes that would otherwise be punished if an adult did them. Do we really want a bunch of

According to, “11 facts about child soldiers”, Children who are poor, have bad education,are displaced from their family, or live in a combat zone are more likely to be forced to join their local army or militia. This proves that they use them to their advantage because they don’t want to take the kids that are rich because their parents are probably paying the government more than the poor people. So the government needs a favor from the poor people so they take their children to fight. The rich kids might also put up more of a fight because they aren’t used to being told what to do and they have things to make their lives easier. Some kids are required to kill a family member (Child Soldiers). If their parents are rich and are paying the government a copious amount of money they won't want to cut them off. They still want to receive that money to pay for weapons for the soldiers or other things that will benefit

Everyone has a different opinion and they are entitled to their opinions. Do you believe child soldiers should be prosecuted for the crimes they commit? In my opinion I believe child soldiers should not be prosecuted for many reasons. One is that they are forced to fight and to commit the crimes. Another is their mental state is altered with thoughts of what is wrong and what is right. Also the fact that the children are drugged alters their mental state and fogs up their train of thought. Yes some may say that children should know what is right and what is wrong well that is not always true.

Imagine being in a community that is going through war, you are a 9 year old boy and your family is killed. You feel lost, and like you have nowhere to go, so you decide to go to a military base for protection. While you are there you get brainwashed and drugged. They tell you you will go out and fight, or they will kill you. Being such a young child you just follow directions, and fight, and kill others. Then an American soldier picks you up. They bring you back to America to be tried for murder. You never had any idea that what you were doing was wrong because you were told what you were doing was for your country, and that you were just following directions. You are found guilty anyway and are in jail for the rest of your life. Not everyone

Imagine you are woken up one night to find a group kidnappers who are taking you away to serve in the military, and having to watch the killing of your parents right in front of you right after. This is what some young children, who are now soldier, had to experience. Vision.org states that “UNICEF reports that the LRA has abducted children as young as 5 but mostly between the ages of 8 and 16, often after killing their parents in front of them. The young “recruits” are then forced to march to southern Sudan. Those who can’t carry their loads or keep pace with the others are killed. Those who attempt escape are severely punished.” It is obviously not their fault that this is happening, therefore child soldiers should be given amnesty. Their commanders frequently drug them, there are countries funding certain militaries that allow child soldiers. This allows their commanders to keep drafting children. Finally, they are brainwashed during

For example in the article Kurdish Forces Violating Child Soldier Band it states, “ Human Rights Watch documented cases over the past year of children under 18 joining and fighting…” This is showing that kids are joining these groups on their own. Another example from the article ,by Jo Becker, Advocacy Director, Children's Rights Division and Rachel Stohl, senior associate with the Stimson Center, “In South Sudan, child recruitment spiked sharply last year, with estimates that 12,000 children were fighting with both government and non-state armed groups.” This is showing that mass amounts of children are being recruited to fight in a war that they don’t have to be in. Finally in the article Scott Gates, Simon Reich it says, “Accounts from the field tell of soldiers who are near free to. 5/5 While some might argue that child soldiers should be granted amnesty and say that their commanders made them do this. But they forget that in the text it says they willingly came to the army camps. No one made them go there, they did. They chose to listen to their commanders and let them rule their

More often than not, children have no say in whether they enlist or not and once recruited the children become brainwashed through the use of drugs and alcohol. The drugs and alcohol make the children become more compliant, enabling them to commit atrocities which they never would have before.” This shows that the drugs and alcohol that are being given to the child soldiers are helping the leader brainwash them to make them think that committing horrible crimes is a good thing to do. Since the child soldiers are on drugs and alcohol, they make poor decisions of killing innocent people without even knowing they are doing it. Some may argue that the children can refuse the drugs, but when you are living in a tragic life of your friends and family dying beside you on the battlefield, why would you want to have a conscious mind when you could take a drug to forget all about

First, one of the major reasons why child soldiers should be granted amnesty is that they often have no choice but to fight. Sometimes the children are given a ‘choice’ to fight or leave safety, however as Ishmael Beah said during an interview with Harry Smith, that appeared on CBS “Sunday Morning”, “That may seem like a choice to some but as soon as a few left they were shot down.” This shows that when they are brought in the are forced to fight or die.