Over the past twenty years, throughout many countries, the use of child soldiers has grown into a huge worldwide problem that needs to come to an end. According to the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), a child soldier is "any child—boy or girl—under eighteen years of age, who is part of any kind of regular or irregular armed force or armed group in any capacity" (Kaplan, Eben"Child Soldiers Around the World”). These children’s lives are being destroyed, and they are forced to live inhumane lifestyles involving killing, horrifying behavior, and terrible witnesses. There is an estimated 300,000 child soldiers all over the world being used in direct conflict at war, or as spies, lookouts, messengers, and other forms of military use. In the past, up to 90% of soldiers consisted of adult men, whereas today up to 80% of soldiers are children and women. This global issue takes place in countries such as Colombia, Uganda, Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia, Liberia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and many more. In Uganda, children are being forced to kill instead of enjoying a normal childhood of laughter and dreams, and normal day to day lives. This disruption of innocent childhoods is really affecting children in many areas of the world. A student at Mamaroneck High School should care about child soldiers because it is a violation of basic human rights and all people, especially children, deserve to have a life free from violence. In America it is seen as unnatural for a child to not go to school and learn, and it is rare for a kid to not receive education at all in the United States. On the other hand, in places across the world like Africa, it is a privilege to go to school, and it’s something people have to work very hard towards. In ... ... middle of paper ... ...ike Us" Invisible Children). All of these actions are steps towards the goal of ending the use of child soldiers for good. In Uganda, children are being taken advantage of, and being deprived of some of their basic rights, freedom and a life of protection. It is unfair that these poor, weak, and vulnerable children are the ones who are being exposed and forced to take part in such horrible mayhems. They deserve nothing but a life of happiness, and instead receive a life of killing, not only of other people but of their own innocence as well. Children are ripped from their loved ones, their family, their community, and are given something so terrible to remember from their own childhoods. This whole conflict needs to come to an end. People need to start taking action and raising more and more awareness because it is affecting so many people all over the world.
...be seen as an entity that promotes vile results. However, it is imperative to understand that globalization is multilayered and difficult to fully understand. In the case of child soldiers, globalization has played a pertinent role in unifying international organizations in hopes of finding a solution to this “phenomenon”. On the other hand, although certain international organizations such as United Nations have had a prominent role in advocating against child soldiery, for the following reasons, its attempts are insufficient: it lacks the ability to enforce sanctions established within the international community and it does not do enough to recognize the political, social and economic inequalities that are prevalent in most of these fragile states. Therefore, child soldiery, cannot be eradicated until these issues are dealt with on a collective global scale.
There is no exact known number of children currently being utilised in warfare worldwide. The issue of the military use of children is so widespread that no figure can be calculated, although it is estimated that there are currently over 250,000 child soldiers across the world. Many are drugged and brainwashed into murder, many are forced to sever all ties with their family or watch them die. Most are faced with a simple choice: kill or be killed. Although the notion of child soldiers is vastly alien to contemporary Australian society, it is a reality in many parts of the world.
“It may seem unimaginable to you that child soldiers exist and yet the reality for many rebel gang leaders, and even state governments, is that there is no more complete end-to-end weapon system in the inventory of war machines than the child soldier… Man has created the ultimate cheap, expendable, yet sophisticated human weapon at the expense of humanity’s own future: its children.”
the book to help readers comprehend the humanity and recognize the potential of child soldiers.
The Military draft is the random selection of qualified citizens of the United States, that is put to use when a crisis occurs, like a war. When American citizens reached age 18, they had to sign up for eligibility to be drafted to go to war for their country. Throughout the country’s history, the requirements and limitations of drafting have changed. The draft has been going on since colonial times in America in order to fulfill the country’s military needs when there were not enough volunteer fighters for the military. The total amount of soldiers that one side has fighting for it is an important factor in any type of battle so getting the necessary amount of fighters is crucial. The draft assures everyone that this military need is satisfied at any point in time. Many people feel like the draft is not fair and not “American” and the draft has seen so much conflict since its invention. Throughout the history of the United States, the military draft has been a very important, yet highly controversial topic at the same time.
Ishmael Beah first spoke of the horrors he had witnessed at the “1996 United Nations presentation of the Machel Report on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Children” (“Advocate for Children,” Par. 3). This presentation focused on the devastating effects that war imparts on the children involved. Today, Beah continues to advocate and represent change for the countless number of children still involved in wars around the
In the documentary “Time for School 3”, aired in 2009, executive producer Pamela Hogan, conducted an informative and thought-provoking project, which scrutinized the lives of seven children living in Afghanistan, Benin, Brazil, India, Japan, Kenya, and Romania. Despite living in diverse countries, these seven children shared one attribute; the tussle of receiving a basic education.
A child soldier is a child who has been abducted and forced to fight in a conflict in which they would not typically be involved in. Child soldiers have their relatively normal childhood taken away if they are abducted. Instead of playing with the other children, they are forced to murder them. Many are forced to watch the people they once knew be tortured and they may even take part in the act. Child soldiers are internationally banned, yet many countries still utilize them to this day. Uganda is one country in which they are used. The use of children in armed combat in Uganda sheds light on the fact that the concept of power is indeed a double-edged sword.
Canadian military soldiers have been fighting for the country’s freedom and justice for many years. Soldiers have been dedicating their lives to protect the citizens of Canada by facing horrible circumstances such as killing, injuries, and new environments, which leave the soldiers’ well-being in a devastating condition. In recent years, the issue of soldiers’ health has become more apparent. Soldiers are coming back from deployment with poorer health statuses then pervious years and not getting the services they need, affecting the various strategies health care providers particularly nurses use. The government or military has not done enough to provide soldiers with adequate resources after deployment, mainly focusing on providing them with
Child soldier is a worldwide issue, but it became most critical in the Africa. Child soldiers are any children under the age of 18 who are recruited by some rebel groups and used as fighters, cooks, messengers, human shields and suicide bombers, some of them even under the aged 10 when they are forced to serve. Physically vulnerable and easily intimidated, children typically make obedient soldiers. Most of them are abducted or recruited by force, and often compelled to follow orders under threat of death. As society breaks down during conflict, leaving children no access to school, driving them from their homes, or separating them from family members, many children feel that rebel groups become their best chance for survival. Others seek escape from poverty or join military forces to avenge family members who have been killed by the war. Sometimes they even forced to commit atrocities against their own family (britjob p 4 ). The horrible and tragic fate of many unfortunate children is set on path of war murders and suffering, more nations should help to prevent these tragedies and to help stop the suffering of these poor, unfortunate an innocent children.
Xanthaki, Mirela. “Few Gains Have Been Made Against Use of Child Soldiers.” Inter Press Service 20 May 2008: 1-3. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 14 Feb. 2011.
Slavery can date back to the 7th century BC in Sparta and Athens Greece those states depended mostly on forced labor. Slavery here in America began in 1619 when the first African slaves were brought to Virginia. They served in the production of lucrative crops like tobacco. Slavery was practiced in America throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. The first movement to ban human trafficking from the transatlantic was passed through the British parliament in 1833. More than 180 years ago and now most of the countries have banned slavery. However many people remain enslaved. Human Trafficking can be defined as the trade of people that are engaged in forced labor for others at a cheap cost or even
These are the words of a 15-year-old girl in Uganda. Like her, there are an estimated 300,000 children under the age of eighteen who are serving as child soldiers in about thirty-six conflict zones (Shaikh). Life on the front lines often brings children face to face with the horrors of war. Too many children have personally experienced or witnessed physical violence, including executions, death squad killings, disappearances, torture, arrest, sexual abuse, bombings, forced displacement, destruction of home, and massacres. Over the past ten years, more than two million children have been killed, five million disabled, twelve million left homeless, one million orphaned or separated from their parents, and ten million psychologically traumatized (Unicef, “Children in War”). They have been robbed of their childhood and forced to become part of unwanted conflicts. In African countries, such as Chad, this problem is increasingly becoming a global issue that needs to be solved immediately. However, there are other countries, such as Sierra Leone, where the problem has been effectively resolved. Although the use of child soldiers will never completely diminish, it has been proven in Sierra Leone that Unicef's disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration program will lessen the amount of child soldiers in Chad and prevent their use in the future.
”(SOS) Before violating a child beyond “the right to life, the right to be with family and nurtured and respected”, (Grace Machel, UN, 1996) First think how can we take the guns and other weapons away to keep them out of the civil wars. The use of child soldiers has become more common in the last thirty years. Social norms have changed, traditions have altered, and instability has increased in many areas.
“Stolen people, stolen dream” is the brutality faced by numerous, vulnerable, gullible children in the black market around the world even in the admirable United States. Trafficking of children is the modern day slavery, the act of recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or obtaining a person for compelled labor or commercial sex acts through the use of force, fraud, or coercion. More than ever, it has become a lucrative method that is trending in the underground economy. A pimp can profit up to $150,000 per children from age 4-12 every year, as reported by the UNICEF. Also, according to the International Labor Organization statistics, “There are 20.9 million victim of human trafficking globally, with hundreds of thousands in the United