Child Soldiers: Why Do Soldiers Play Children?

First of all, the children are being used for war crimes and they are underaged. When you join the military you have to be over or right at a certain age. When the military needed men they went to children and the government had enforced a statement saying “15 is considered too young to fight.”(7) Also, if children are too young to fight then they are also “considered too young to be held criminally responsible for serious violations.” (7) In the article “Armed and Underaged” by Jeffrey Gettleman, a reporter talked to a young boy , age 12, Awil. Awil told the reporter that he “enjoys the gun.”(6) Meaning that he knows nothing else about playing with his friends or anything. He has grown up all his life with a gun around. If the children

Jeffrey stated that “More than 200,000 children worldwide are still used as child soldiers.” This trend is reportedly present mostly in Africa, as generals need to be able to two people for every person that they lose. Moreover, it’s easy to teach kids to something that they can’t tell is right from wrong. After being trained these newly made warriors are trained to kill while being completely stoned or high on a cocaine-gunpowder mix that is given as a drug to them. The fault does not fall upon those trained to kill, but the trainees that put them up to such an awful

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.”

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

These kids should be given amnesty because they had no control over what they did and other nations should punish this country because using kids under 18 years old is considered a war crime and its not the kids fault this happened. These kids are not just drugged they were also taken out of school and out

When it comes to prosecuting young children solders there are two very strong arguments. One brings up that the child soldiers are not morally responsive for their actions

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.

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

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

Child Soldiers should be given amnesty because they are brainwashed and manipulated. According to Victims or Perpetrators, “The drugs and alcohol

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.

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

Some say that these children will never change and will always want war and therefore they should be prosecuted. But these children had no idea what they were doing, they were drugged, threatened and afraid. Some child soldiers are tortured and raped(Leaphy 1). Also “if a child under 15 is considered too young to fight, then he or she must also be considered too young to be held criminally responsible for serious violations of IHL while associated with armed forces or armed groups”(Should Child

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

Child soldiers are found throughout history again and again. Child soldiers have been conscripted to war, kidnapped to participate in war-like acts, and even volunteered for these wars. Often, the children did not know what they were volunteering for. They were excited for the fun, exciting uniforms; they were excited to be a part of something bigger, and to feel like adults.