Soldiers Are Forced To Be Soldiers

The children in the war were in a kill or be killed situation. The children didn’t have a choice except to follow orders from their commanders or they would get killed. They had to fight and kill others to stay alive. A quote from the article “Child Soldiers” (To what extent should child soldiers be held accountable for their crimes?) states, “Furthermore, many children join without carefully thinking through their decision. At the time they might believe that recruiting would lead to a safer life as necessities such as food, water and shelter would be available; actually fighting in war would not cross their mind.” This quote proves that child soldiers are victims because the only reason that some joined was because they had to or else they would die. Also because when they joined they didn’t really know what was going to happen and they didn’t know about the all of the mass killings that would occur. They were just focused on staying alive and getting the basic necessities that they needed like food, water, and shelter. If they wouldn’t have joined then they could have died from hunger or the harsh weather. They chose to defend themselves by joining the

Visualize men with guns breaking down your door and pointing them at your family. Now imagine these men taking your children, forcing them to serve in their military force. In only an instant, your children are gone and you are left with no knowledge of the fate of your kids. As terrifying and seemingly impossible as this imagined scenario may be, it is a stark reality for many families in third world countries. Where families fear not if their children will be taken but when those doors will be broken down, and their screaming children will be dragged out through the front door. The parents know that they cannot not stop these men even if they attempt to. Yet, in an unreasonable twist becoming a child soldier is not only a gamble with the reaper, but it is also a chance to survive. Enough food to survive is more or less guaranteed, while back at home the odds of surviving are insurmountably against them. Becoming a child soldier is a double edged sword that is neither ally nor enemy to the children. These children are abused and coerced into staying with the men who ripped them from their families. Those that attempt to escape or resist are torn down brutally in order to be rebuilt, while those that embrace it sacrifice their humanity and risk the onset of psychologically damaging PTSD, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Militias and rebel forces, strained on man power, turn to child soldiers as a cheap and readily available replacement source. Trained to become war hardened

Foday Momoh Kanu a former child soldier exclaims, “... the rebels found me and captured me, they said that if I don't join they will cut my hand, so I went with them.” This implies how the rebels forced many children to join their fight by harming threats such as chopping limbs. It reveals the extent both armies went in the recruitment of juvenile soldiers. View Here

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.”

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

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

What are child soldiers? Child soldiers are people under eighteen who partake in either a regular or irregular armed group in any way. According to Warchild there are an estimated 250,000 child soldiers in the world and often as a part of their recruitment they are forced to either kill or maim a loved one so that they cannot go back home. In Ishmael Beah’s novel A Long Way Gone (Memoirs of a Boy Soldier) the author recounts his life as a child soldier fighting on the government side in Sierra Leone from age thirteen to sixteen. This paper will be attempting to answer the questions of why certain armed groups use children, why it is wrong to do so, and how people are taking a stand to stop it.

Children who were once soft-hearted, and full of innocence, are now transformed into horrifying killers, and crime committers. Some children that are old as seven commit inconceivable violations, such as killing parents and siblings, striking neighbors, torching the villages they once called home. Their vulnerability was the key to warlords to create them into coldhearted killers. Around 70% of an estimated, 11,000 child soldiers are serving with rebel groups, including the notorious white Army known for sending thousands of children into battle.

As I said in the first sentence, they are victims of the war they are fighting. The government that is prosecuting the children should be prosecuting the commanders. They using the children as soldiers and fall guys ( the people pay for the crime to other people made them

One reason that proves that child soldiers are victims are that they are kidnapped, in the blue article when it states that rebels are snatching kids off soccer fields and forcing them to fight. From the pink article when it said that when Bosco Ojok was only 14 years old he was abducted by rebel soldiers and forced to fight with them or die. From the book, when michel chikwanine was attacked by soldiers and forced to go with them.

However this is not a reality for children in war zones. Many of them get abducted from schools, out of their homes, or anywhere the rebels or the government is able to get to them. But, why are children the preferred “soldier”? According to Somasundaram in her article “Child Soldier: Understanding the Context, children are easily impressed, which is the choice of some military leaders. They believe children are less likely to question orders than adults due to fear” (Somasundaram, 2002 page 1270). Children easily believe what they are told, as their experience and maturity levels are not the same as adults. In addition, uneducated children are more likely to believe these “leaders” as they may not know any

Why were the children stolen? The children were stolen by the rebels for many reasons. They may have been stolen to be cooks, soldiers, sex slaves, and human shields. (Bowser,2008)

In over twenty-five countries, many children are abducted and beaten into submission to be used in real life wars. A very famous viral video called “Kony 2012” was trying to get people to help catch the Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony, who has kidnapped thousands of children over the past twenty years. Child soldiers are defined as: children under the age of 18 who are recruited by state or non-state armed groups and used as fighters, cooks, suicide bombers, human shields, messengers, spies, or even for sexual purposes.

“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.

Children in armed conflicts is when a child under the age of 18 has been recruited into an armed group by force where they are then be used as spies, fighters, messengers, cooks, and many more things. More than 100,000 kids have been forced into joining these armed groups. Consequently, minors working in these armed groups may come from a substandard life when they are recruited. They are then pressured into committing acts of violence. They could have also been beaten up and abused, as well as being forced into taking drugs and other harmful substances. Some kids join armed forces