Child Soldiers Research Paper

To begin with, child soldiers deserve amnesty because they don’t choose or are manipulated into becoming a child soldier.When children are put into a war most of the time they don’t have a choice or are manipulated into thinking what they are doing is okay.One

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

Around the globe, in the past and present, children are being recruited to fight as soldiers in wars sometimes as young as 5 and up until they are 18 or older. These children soldiers should not be given amnesty because giving them amnesty could give others encouragement to keep using them, everyone has the same rights which means everyone has the same consequences, and some child soldiers have committed the most violent and harsh acts in wartime, and they can be dangerous to keep in our country.

Child soldiers are victims to an unfortunate outcome when viciously stolen from reality and their childhoods. Drugged, brainwashed,and armed these kids are taught at an impressionable age that in war it's kill or be killed. They are given no other option than to participate in this war, so child soldiers should be granted amnesty.

One significant piece of evidence to support the claim that child soldiers are both the victims and be given amnesty is Ishmael who is a former child soldier who has been given amnesty and he tells others about his experience as a child soldier. He was taking refuge in a camp and forced to be a soldier. Before, he and other child soldiers went on missions they were given drugs and he does not remember much of what he had done. This piece of evidence supports the claim that child soldiers are the victims and should be given amnesty, because it shows that they do not have a choice in becoming a soldier and are given drugs so they are not are thinking clearly and they don’t know what they are doing.

Can you imagine every day being drugged, beaten, and threatened into doing something horrible such as killing someone? I am talking about the life of a child soldier. Every day thousands of kids are being forced into their country's army and now they are killing many people. So the main question is should we grant them amnesty or not? Some may not agree with me

Child soldiers are victims of cruel recruiters who take advantage of their innocence, forcing them to commit acts that no child should ever experience. They are given drugs to brainwash them and make them unaware of what they are doing (Helping to heal child soldiers). The only things they know are the orders they’re given, orders that they can either follow or be killed (Child Soldiers: Victims or Perpetrators). Child soldiers should be given amnesty as it is unjust to prosecute a child for actions they were forced to commit while under the influence of drugs. Instead, rehabilitation should be provided to give these children a second chance.

Although not everyone knows it, there is a huge tragedy that is, and has been, going on even at this exact moment. That tragedy is children being taken out of their ordinary lives, whether by force or not, away from their families and into battle. Despite how much these children went through in the wars, the question still remains: once the war is over, should they be granted amnesty, or be prosecuted? The answer to this comes from thorough research. Child soldiers should be granted amnesty because they are unaware of what they are doing, they need help rather than prosecution, and many are forced to fight.

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

The thought of a child behind bars for war crimes is atrocious. People may see it as justified though. Those people see it as fair to have a child that was manipulated and drugged into fighting be faced with the crimes they had contributed to. On one side of the argument, child soldiers should not be granted amnesty because most are fully aware of what their doing when enlisting. On the other side, child soldiers should be granted amnesty. More often than not children have no say in whether they enlist or not and once recruited the children become brainwashed from the usage of drugs and alcohol. Systematic drug taking is especially reported among West African-based militia movements. In fact, some authors consider hallucinatory drug intake

Most importantly, child soldiers shouldn’t be granted amnesty because they slaughtered people. A particularly compelling example of this is when a military commander said “If you tell them to kill, they kill.” in an article written by Jeffrey Gettleman (Packet page 6). This

Once they are released from being a soldier, “In addition to facing rejection from their community, child combatants often suffer from post traumatic stress and may continue their violence outside of war, withdraw social interactions, and suffer from nightmares and hallucinations” not only hurting themselves but possibly others too (Lyon 53). The children have PTSD and are changed drastically on the inside, recalling events from the war constantly. After the war, they have nowhere to go. Many times their families are killed and the children lose their identity during war, causing them to not know what to do or where to go after battle. Tragically, “In many cases child soldiers have been written off as a lost generation with no hope of emotional and physical rehabilitation” thus ruining their lives (Lyon 53). Many may think that the war only damages children physically or visa versa but they do not realize the real consequences. Those innocent children cannot unsee what they experienced first hand, they cannot remove scars, and they cannot get limbs back that they may have lost. Post-War has caused everlasting worries and memories for the children, causing them to live their entire life much different than they once hoped.

Children have been forced to fight in the army, in the middle of a war. Ages 9-13 are given deadly weapons in a innocent hand for war matters. Whatever the general says, they do. Most of these children are threatened with their lives, or threatened with their loved ones lives. No matter what, they have to listen to the generals command. Even though these children committed horrible acts during their time in war they should be given amnesty or legally forgiven by the United Nations. Others may have their own opinion on this situation but these child soldiers should be given amnesty.

In the last ten years over two million children have been killed, over one million orphaned, over six million have been left seriously injured or permanently disabled and over 10 million have been diagnosed with psychological trauma (Invisible Children 1). Here, they are referring to the infamous child soldiers. The issue of child soldiers has a long history of positive and negative reviews, but in summary, child soldiers are put into war as unofficial soldiers. These kids are treated so terribly by their commanders and fellow soldiers that they can become a threat to society upon their release from battle. There is an ongoing debate amongst society regarding whether or not these child soldiers should be given amnesty or charged for their crimes.

Child soldiers should be given amnesty because they were drugged under the influence to shoot. “Thousands of boys, some as young as 10 are purchased, kidnapped or terrorized into joining the country’s army.”(Gentlemen) Children aren’t at the age to be responsible when drugged. Children have the choice to live and kill or be killed. The people who use the child soldiers are drugging them to kill with little thought. Child soldiers should be given amnesty because they are influenced.