Child Soldiers Research Paper

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.

Imagine being taken from your house and your family and being forced to fight in a war. This is what some child soldiers have to go through. Not to mention after they are taken they have to risk their lives and be forced to kill. Some are even as young as 5. Child soldiers should receive amnesty if they were young when they were taken, were forced, and show remorse after they were rescued and understand what they did.

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.

Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Hideki Tojo. What did all of these leaders of armies have in common; the use of child soldiers. For 1000’s of years children have been used as soldiers during war. They are usually used against their will to fight, work, cook, tend to wounded soldiers, and much more. Although some willingly join as a way to earn money or find a better life, many are forced into it. Now that the use of child soldiers is becoming more widespread than ever, many are debating on whether or not they deserve amnesty. After reading multiple articles and research, I think child soldiers should be given amnesty unless they kill.

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 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.

I believe child soldiers should have amnesty because their commanders force them to be in war and give them drugs to take so they can go kill tons of innocent people.

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

It is approximated that about 40% of all child soldiers are located in Africa, and out of an estimated 300,000 child soldiers globally, around 250,000 of them are active in Africa. "According to the 2008 Global Report on Child Soldiers by the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, the LRA has abducted about 25,000 children since the 1980s." (www.accord.org.za) The percentage of children that are used as soldiers in Africa is shocking. Child soldiers in Africa are not fighting for the freedom of their country, though. The majority of children recruited as child soldiers are fighting alongside rebel groups who hope to take control of their country. These children do whatever the rebels tell them to do, and a failure to comply often results

In the past 15 years the use of child soldiers has increased majorly and has spread to almost every corner of the glob.they are involved in almost all major war conflicts to date.Today there are thousands of children serving illegally as soldiers in many armed conflicts worldwide. children

There has been a huge conflict worldwide about child soldiers that should they be given amnesty or not .Approximately 300,000 children are in used for combat and carry armed weapons. They are being used mostly because they're the “Perfect Weapon” to the commanders.This means that children don't react of their action they take and do know what are doing most of the time.Personally,I think that children should be given amnesty because there are not morally responsible for their actions.

Child soldiers as said before, have many different purposes in an army. When taken/recruited they are sometimes forced to act violently against their communities and families, ensuring that they can’t ever go back home. Military use of children have 3 forms: children that fight in battles, human shields or propaganda, and supporting roles such as spies, messengers, porters, lookouts etc. Children are small therefore making them inconspicuous during war and attacks, this is usually an advantage. Boys are not the only ones who are recruited; girls make about 10-40 percent of the soldiers. Girl are used for fighting but are more vulnerable to sexual violence. They are often times used as sex slaves for male combatants and impregnated.

My third question is “what are the mental/emotional effects of becoming a child soldier and can they become functional members of society?”

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.

The program has maintained a long-standing will to be involved to end the use of child soldiers. We have worked with the leading international coalitions, as well as with musicians and writers who draw on their harrowing experiences as child soldiers for inspiration. Despite unified international opposition to the use of child soldiers in armed conflicts, the phenomenon remains a serious problem today, particularly in Africa.