Informative Essay On Child Soldiers

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

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.

Child Soldiers Ishmael Beah once said “My squad is my family, my gun is my provider, and protector, and my rule is to kill or be killed”(Beah 116). Most children live a normal and happy life, but not all children live that way. Some children hold baseball bats while others hold guns larger than they are; some children dodge dodgeballs, others dodge bullets. Most children go home to see their parents or guardians, child soldiers often go “home” to their squads and Lieutenants. Child soldiers can be rehabilitated if civilians and officials aren’t indifferent .

Imagine being forced out of your home with a gun to your back. All your muscles are tense making, sure that you don’t make the wrong move. Stepping out of your house, you see the people who invaded your home point a gun at your parents. You scream for them to stop, but they ignore you. You want to do something about it but your body won’t move. Tears roll down your eyes because you know what they're about to do. In a blink of an eye they do it. They kill your parents to make sure that you can never come back to your home. You’re now stuck in the war, someplace you never wanted to be. This is what happened to many child soldiers. They were taken out of their homes and forced into the war. During the war, commanders would force drugs into their

A lot of the children interviewed within the first chapter of Peter W. Singer’s book Children at War are under the age of 12. They speak of torturing people in the most horrific of ways. Such as when joining the paramilitaries, A., age twelve, states that the first thing they make you do is kill someone. A random person is picked for the recruits to chop off his hands and arms. It is important to realize however, that not all of these child soldiers are as young as 7. Singer explains that a “A ‘child soldier’ is generally defined (under both international law and common practice) as any person under eighteen years of age who is engaged in deadly combat or combat support as part of an armed force or group.” What is most horrendous is

These kids are in no condition for fighting in armed rebel groups but the numbers of these kids are starting to go up. “Over 8,000 children are fighting in armed rebel groups, battling the U.S-backed government.” They are taught to kill and are forced to think that killing is a good thing, plus, the guns they are supposed to use are even heavier than most of these kids, so that clearly shows they shouldn't be using them. These child soldiers need to be put in rehabilitation instead of being put in prison, they are being forced to take drugs, they are brainwashed into thinking

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.”

Many children in America do not consider the problem of child soldiers happening around the world today as an issue, and many do not even think about it. Child Soldiers are a continuous problem that should be stopped instantly. Child Soldiers are innocent children who are forced into armed forces and non- state armed groups. Today, there are approximately 300,000 child soldiers in war, and 40% of armed forces are using these children as soldiers. These children are helpless and have little to no choice to go into war and leave their family behind.

These Children are being exploited from their families and then taking into custody. Human service reports that children are being brutally recruitment, by being taken away and often being harassed by older people. This is a society impact, this is a big problem, for the global impact, which can work together to reintegrate, child soldiers back to society to make them, a productive individuals. All around the world every child has dream of going to school and learning about everything, but in some states that's not the case they are compelled to become instruments of war kill, and to be killed. Child soldiers are being forced to give violent expression towards adults, they are often thought that adults are the main enemy and they are always thought that they are alone in this

Child soldiers are a big problem in countries around the world. Just because it is not a problem in our country we should still be informed about it. Child soldiers are victims not criminals. Kids do not know what life is like here in America, or life in other countries. They think it is normal to fight in the military at a very young age. The military leaders brainwash the kids, kids are forced to fight and girls are getting used by the members.

These children basically only have the choice to either die or kill. In the article “Summative Essay; Child Soldiers Victim or Perpetrators” the author shows, “From the drugs to the alcohol, these children are placed under horrific circumstances which are preposterous. They kill to stay alive and those who try to escape are killed.” This is important to notice because this proves these kids don't have a choice besides kill or be killed, they have no other

Child soldiers can run away and make their own decisions and they have anywhere to go. To be fair, it is hard for them to run away from their leader. Especially when they’re are given shelter and food. Some say that the children have experienced so much death, they’ve lost empathy. And yet people like Ishmael escape and make it out alive. They get to share their experiences and things they have witness. Most children and teens from the ages 7-16 know what they’re doing is wrong. If we get mad at our own kids for stealing a candy bar from the store, then how would you feel if your kid went and shot up a school. They deserve the help but they also need punishment too.

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

Since most of these kids are forced to fight, how can they be punished if they are most likely going to be killed if they disobey. If people do disobey, they are made examples out of. These kids are terrified because they don’t know how bad their punishment will be. A former child soldier named Ishmael was forced to fight for multiple years, and he said,” If you disobey, you are killed,” (Beah 2007). He was always in constant threat from his commander because in Beah’s book, he explains how dangerous it could be if you disobeyed. Many children were massacred. There are 200,000 children forced into fighting a pointless and unrewarding war. All of them suffer everyday from the war, it’s become all they know.

“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.