The Fear of Child Soldiers in 3rd World Countries

At a young age it’s difficult to grasp the concept of death, but as time passes, the youth turn into the old and the old turn into the deceased. Whether people like it or not, death plays a role in their lives and it’s something no one can escape. Child soldiers are forced to kill, and if they don’t then they too are killed. Young children are trained into fierce warriors every day, and stopping this action has proven to be difficult. It can be argued from a recruiter that brings in children that children are disposable, easy to train, and almost infinite. Most of these kids never receive a chance to do what they want in life, furthermore it seems like children, especially in Africa, are being picked off the streets they’re grapes on a grapevine. The International Justice System appeals to cases like this everyday, as it can be a struggle to understand if a child is truly remorseful, and if they deserve amnesty. Children who are forced into crime should be given a chance to redeem themselves, as they generally have no intention to cause harm.

It is common for child soldiers had no choice in joining war efforts. Often child are kidnapped and forced into the war: “It is estimated that over the last 15 years 10,000 children have been abducted by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) around Gula in northern Uganda, alone” (Children in Conflict). In places where poverty is high parents may send their children into the war in exchange for food or monetary value (Children as Soldiers). During Hitler’s reign, young boys were forced to attend Hitler Youth: “Membership in the State Youth becomes mandatory. The boys in Werner’s kameradschaften are taught parade maneuvers and quizzed on fitness standards and required to run sixty meters in twelve seconds. Everything is glory and country and competition and sacrifice” (Doerr 62). Children in wars are also subjected to sexual abuse from adult soldiers around them. The emotional impact from the sexual abuse and the highly dangerous situations they are placed in may last for the rest of their lives (Child Soldier 46). The use of child soldiers has been banned since 2000 when the United Nations adopted a protocol stating that the forced recruitment of children under 18 for armed conflict is illegal. More than 110 countries have ratified this protocol, but it continues to be an issue around the world (Facts About Child

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.

No one wants their childhood to be utterly destroyed or have their family taken away from them in the blink of an eye, without the chance to even say one last goodbye. The odd chance of that happening to us, here in America, is slim to none. In Sierra Leone on the other hand, along with many other parts of Africa, child soldiers are being put to use in armies. In A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah, the recruitment of child soldiers, African living situations, and the psychological trauma endured by the children deals with the issue of child soldiers.

Many countries are now recruiting children to join their forces. It is mostly countries in Southern Africa that are using these tactics. Child soldiers have been around for many years, but the problems it is causing is just now coming to the attention of government officials.

Child soldiers have been used all over the world throughout history; even today, things have not changed in countries in East Africa. Ugandan children are still being recruited to fight the wars of adults. In 2012, there was a viral movement to bring awareness of the child soldiers under Joseph Kony’s command. The phrase “Kony 2012” was plastered all over various social media outlets by an organization named Invisible Children, or IC for short (Karlin 256). Kony 2012 was ignited from a short video centered on Kony’s army called the Lord’s Resistance Army, also known as the LRA, which consisted mostly of kidnapped children (Gould 207). The use of child soldiers is not just reduced to the LRA. Kids are being brought to arm all over Uganda; it is most common in Northern Uganda. Countless children have been forced to do things way beyond their years, for a fight that isn’t theirs. The effects of the experiences on child soldiers are widespread as well as deeply rooted.

In America a regular child wakes up in the morning to a loving home were they eat breakfast and head to school, in Africa a regular child wakes up to heartless generals were they grab their guns and head to war.What is a child soldier? They are any children recruited by state or non-state armies or armed groups under the age of 18.In Africa the child soldier problem is growing fast and there are not a enough solutions being made or things being done to stop it.

Child Soldiers across the world are being forced to fight against their will in order to survive. In recent years, “The number of children affiliated with fighting has more than doubled.” (Geert Cappelave) Not only are these kids sent to war, they are abused, sexually and mentally.

There’s a lot of stuff going on in the world right now, both good and bad. For instance, we have North Korea and their nuclear missiles to pollution and overpopulation. Along with this, there is a long standing problem of child soldiers. Child soldiers are children who are in some military or fighting group, and many of them are either recruited by force or are abducted. These child soldiers are made to or even choose to do terrible things, like massacring innocent people.

Greater attention and action against the worldwide use of child soldiers need to be addressed by the world community because children are being forced out of their homes, traumatized by all of the killings and dying surrounding them and they are being starved and beaten. Today, there are thousands of children involved in these armed jobs all around the world. There is an estimated 3,000 children, many under 16, including 500 girls in the army. (“Child Soldiers”)

There are hundreds of thousands of children who are currently accommodating in combat for a rebel group or government (“Facts About Child Soldiers”). For example, during the civil war of Sierra Leone from 1991 to 2001, the use of children as soldiers became more rampant ("Child soldiers in Sierra Leone"). The rebel group Revolutionary United Front of Sierra Leone coerced children to join them in combat by intimidating and abducting them. They would also rape

There are an estimated 250,000 child soldiers in the world today. They usually range from 14 to 18 but some get pulled in at as young as 11. Child soldiers are used in war because their naive tendencies, poor backgrounds, and capability to be easily intimidated and they used for many different things.

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

“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.

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