Child Soldiers Research Paper

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.

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.”

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.

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

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.

My first piece of evidence comes from debatewise. According to someone on debatewise “Child soldiers rarely have the same understanding of their decisions and actions as adults and therefore should not be held responsible for their actions.” Why should these kids be held responsible? They don't even understand what adults do. These kids are too young to understand the consequences of their actions. my next piece of evidence comes from the article armed and underage. According to armed and underage “These kids can be so easily brainwashed” How are you suppose to be aware of what you're doing when you have been brainwashed? It is not child soldiers fault for these crimes if they were not fully capable of understanding what they were doing because they were brainwashed. Now for my last piece of evidence which comes from a summative essay. According to a summative essay on child soldiers “They lack the mental maturity and judgement to express consent or to fully understand the implications of their actions.” Like I said before, these child soldiers are not mentally capable of understanding the consequences of their actions. They may not fully understand the meaning of death. That is the evidence I have found for this idea. Now some of you people out there may be thinking they at least know bad from wrong. Well let me tell you, when you're young, scared, and confused from being

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.

The side that argues prosecuting the child soldiers says kids were given the option to stay or leave, and most chose to stay. That is only partly true. It is true that they are given the option. Yet, the children indirectly forced to stay. Because they have become addicted to the drugs the warlords gave them, they are now dependent on them for those drugs and simply cannot leave, as it reads on debatewise.org. Also, Ishmael Beah points out that through the war, they have gained a connection to their commanders and fellow soldiers. For some, including Ishmael, it is the only family they have left. So, they may, indeed, choose to stay, but not for the reason the many believe. Instead of staying for the fighting, the stay for of family. Those who argue that child soldiers should be considered the perpetrators also say that if we grant amnesty to the soldiers, there would be no justice for the victims they killed. This is completely agreeable and understandable. It is agreeable that there should be punishment given in order to fulfill justice for the victims. However, in order for justice to be fully satisfied, the children should not be the ones punished, but rather, the warlords who wish to come to the US from their country of origin. The warlords drug the child soldiers and kill those who do not follow orders. They also force some to join. If child soldiers were

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

Kassie Cordier Child Soldiers In discussions of child soldiers, one controversial issue has been if they should be granted amnesty for killing people. On the one hand, people who believe child soldiers are harmful argue that they should be prosecuted. On the other hand, people who think they were forced into fighting contend that they shouldn’t be prosecuted. The fact that they killed people, might kill more people and we shouldn’t promoting child soldiers has made the best option of dealing with them to not grant child soldiers amnesty.

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

For starters, most child soldiers are soldiers against their will. According to the article “Child Soldiers should be Prosecuted” the author states, “Children are often forced into fighting and have little choice over whether they enlist” (1). This gives the readers a clear explanation in how most of the soldiers are forced into the life they have. They barely have a voice on whether they enlist or not. In additions, another article titled “Armed & Underaged” the author, Jeffery Gettleman states that sometimes parents make the decision to send their child to war (8). This evidence further expands on the reason that in most cases, the children have little to no choice on whether they are sent to war, and sometimes because of their parents. Gettleman

Am here to talking about child soldiers how do they get the child soldiers hear let me tell you how they get them they kidnap them when they a little kid like ages around 7 to 9 and the people train them for war they train to kill other people some of the kids do drugs. Children are more easily manipulated than adult fighters. Many children will fight on the frontlines. Not all fight, they may be given jobs such as couriers. Girls are often forced into sexual slavery. Many are recruited by force stolen from their families and forced to fight. In some cases children are made to kill their relatives so they can never return home. Others join voluntarily, driven by poverty and the hope of a regular meal. These child soldiers are

It says in “Armed and Underage” that “Thousands of boys, some as young as 10, are purchased, kidnapped, or terrorized into joining the country’s army”(Gettleman). Some child soldiers are not choosing to fight, they might not even know what they are doing at the

“Compelled to become instruments of war, to kill and be killed, child soldiers are forced to give violent expression to the hatreds of adults” (“Child Soldiers” 1). This quotation by Olara Otunnu explains that children are forced into becoming weapons of war. Children under 18 years old are being recruited into the army because of poverty issues, multiple economic problems, and the qualities of children, however, many organizations are trying to implement ways to stop the human rights violation.