Child Soldiers During War

Political strife has been always present on an international scale with surges of civil war due to government overthrow, sending nations into unrest. Although not common recently, the ideology of recruiting child soldiers still remains, and the lasting effects on the children are traumatizing. From witnessing the carnage of constant bombshells erupting in the distance to whole families being executed, the images are etched deep into their minds, haunting them even after they are discharged from the armies. Although putting an immediate end to child soldiers is unrealistic, the United States should aid in creating and training members of war-affected countries to run long-lasting Rehabilitation centers due to the unqualified and ineffective

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.

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.

One injustice facing the world today is the use of child soldiers. According to child-soldiers.org, a child soldier is “any person below eighteen years of age who is, or who has been, recruited or used by an armed force or armed group in any capacity…” Child soldiers do not only include the combatants. There are also child soldiers in noncombatant positions. The most dreadful injustice is having child soldiers, because of the amount of children involved, the recruitment they face, their war experiences, and post battle feelings or events.

It is common for child soldiers had no choice in joining war efforts. Often child are kidnapped and forced into the war: “It is estimated that over the last 15 years 10,000 children have been abducted by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) around Gula in northern Uganda, alone” (Children in Conflict). In places where poverty is high parents may send their children into the war in exchange for food or monetary value (Children as Soldiers). During Hitler’s reign, young boys were forced to attend Hitler Youth: “Membership in the State Youth becomes mandatory. The boys in Werner’s kameradschaften are taught parade maneuvers and quizzed on fitness standards and required to run sixty meters in twelve seconds. Everything is glory and country and competition and sacrifice” (Doerr 62). Children in wars are also subjected to sexual abuse from adult soldiers around them. The emotional impact from the sexual abuse and the highly dangerous situations they are placed in may last for the rest of their lives (Child Soldier 46). The use of child soldiers has been banned since 2000 when the United Nations adopted a protocol stating that the forced recruitment of children under 18 for armed conflict is illegal. More than 110 countries have ratified this protocol, but it continues to be an issue around the world (Facts About Child

All around the world people are looking for soldiers, either big or small, to help fight for either their country, freedom, or religion. The abundance of children on earth has lead to one idea that would change the world forever. The idea that a child, who ranges from the age of 3-18, should fight in a war with a fully operated gun, grenades, and little hope of surviving. Countries in Iraq, Sira, Africa, and Asia, pluck children off the streets, drug them, and force them to go into battle. You have to kill or be killed. Generals are usually disrespectful and a life as a soldier is very difficult. As the thought of child soldiers lead to controversy. Many people are questioning if this act of violence, war, and the fearful pledge to kill is

When hearing the term child soldiers, it brings up different images for everyone. Some may think of children as young as five years old, while others might think of teenagers in their later years. Child soldiers, as defined by the Paris Principles on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict 2007, are “a child associated with an armed force or armed group refers to any person below 18 years of age who is, or who has been, recruited or used by an armed force or armed group in any capacity, including but not limited to children, boys and girls, used as fighters, cooks, porters, spies or for sexual purposes”.

Today, Human right groups estimate that there are at least if not more than 300,000 child soldiers worldwide. In poorer countries, there are more child soldiers because they fight of land, minerals and drugs. Even though the kids are the perfect weapons for these civil wars in poorer countries, because they are easily manipulated, extremely loyal, fearless and most importantly endless supply; there should not be kids fighting for their country unless they are 18 because of the physical and psychological problems.

The practice of recruiting child soldiers, i.e., people under the age of 18 to fight of serve support roles in the military, is frowned upon by many nations. Multiple military groups still either actively recruit or accept child soldiers into their ranks. This, sadly cannot be stopped from happening as militant and extremist groups have no sense of international law or moral conscious and will not adhere to international child laws so as to continually bolster their ranks.

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

The recruitment and use of child soldiers is still a lingering issue in the world. Primarily in third world countries, hundreds of thousands of children are forced to fight and kill others. They are utterly helpless to do anything about their situation. They live

It also begs the question of who is to be held accountable for their actions on a legislative level. In addition, politics defines what it means to be a child soldier and what has legally been taken away from them. This is seen in the consensus that proper early childhood development has been seen as legally taken away from child soldiers. Moreover, it is defined as limiting their fundamental right to exercise their rights as written in many codified law such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (Binagwaho et al. 1). Even so, politics explains the role of international and local organizations in putting together solutions. An example would be the United Nations Security Council’s 885th resolution to create a tribunal to intervene in Rwanda’s internal criminal affairs. They deemed it legally right to try certain members who were responsible for committing Genocide (Payette 91). In addition, politics brings into question the idea of an international minimum age of criminal responsibility.  This is directly related to child soldiers a because no minimum age of responsibility exists as of 2015 (Ursini

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.