Every day, thousands of children around the world wake up in the morning, grab their shoes and backpacks and head to school. Thousands of other children pick up their AK-47s and head to battle. The issue of child soldiers is as complex as it is atrocious, and its heinous nature has prompted the international community to pour vast amounts of time and resources into finding a solution. Despite humanitarian and government organizations’ best efforts, the numbers have remained relatively static over
Child Soldiers One injustice facing the world today is the use of child soldiers. According to child-soldiers.org, a child soldier is “any person below eighteen years of age who is, or who has been, recruited or used by an armed force or armed group in any capacity…” Child soldiers do not only include the combatants. There are also child soldiers in noncombatant positions. The most dreadful injustice is having child soldiers, because of the amount of children involved, the recruitment they face
to why children soldiers are recruited by militant groups. The participation of children as soldiers is a disturbing trend and the recruitment of children as soldiers has recently increased. One of the reasons why militant forces recruit children soldiers is that they more manageable, more obedient, and more easily guided than adults. Militant groups also utilize child soldiers because they consider children expendable, less demanding and easier to manipulate than adult soldiers (Fronseka, p.70)
Child soldiers have long been used in Africa to fight conflicts. The volatile nature of African countries lends itself to more easily allow children to join armed forces. With wars frequent across the continent and terrorist groups reining control of vast regions, African children grow up in a world that is shrouded with violence and lack of control. It is no wonder then, that armed groups are able to abduct children and why some children even voluntarily join armed forces. With children in combat
Paper 4: Synthesis Worldwide the use of child soldiers is a serious issue. Today there are about 300,000 children as young as nine years old involved in armed conflicts all around the globe. These children are living under constant fears of being trapped in an ambush, landmines or gunfire. Girls are used as well in fact approximately one third of child soldiers are girls, they are given the same job as the boys but are used as a sex slaves and forced to be the “wives” of their commanders. Girls are
Though the use of child soldiers is an overwhelmingly difficult issue to combat, it is not a hopeless cause. Groups like Child Soldiers International and USAID work tirelessly to help prevent children from being recruited and help children who have already been child soldiers in an attempt to end the use of child soldiers. Child Soldiers International works directly within communities to prevent children from being recruited. By doing this, they are able to gather integral information needed to
Child Soldiers fighting in Syria Imagine using children as targets in wars and allowing them to be blown up for human sacrifice. In Syria they find these brutal actions normal and acceptable. According to Gale some children would be recuted by their own family to reduce family finances. There are an estimated 300,000 child soldiers under the age of eighteen. Some children are forced to kill their own family members or even communities (Child soldiers).The human rights violation happening in Syria
Child soldiers should be granted amnesty. The reason child soldiers should be considered as victims are because they are forced into labor, drugged, and threatened into service. Many of these child soldiers, after being rescued and rehabilitated, are able to be adopted into loving families and lead normal lives. However, those who are sent back to where they became child soldiers will surely commit those crimes again. The first reason that child soldiers should be considered as victims are that
“CHILD SOLDIERS” Guy Goodwin-Gill and Ilene Cohn, Child Soldiers, The Role of Children in Armed Conflicts, A Study on Behalf of the Henry Dunant Institute, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1994, 228 pp. Reviewed by Styliani Antoniou ‘Child soldiers’ is an inside look at the widen existence of armed children who participate in hostilities. In this study, Professor Goodwin-Gill and Dr Cohn emphasize the ways in which international humanitarian law fails to provide effective protection, particularly
there, getting involved and says how many countries are supporting child soldiers to work with them. The program has maintained a long-standing will to be involved to end the use of child soldiers. We have worked with the leading international coalitions, as well as with musicians and writers who draw on their harrowing experiences as child soldiers for inspiration. Despite unified international opposition to the use of child soldiers in armed conflicts, the phenomenon remains a serious problem today