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“I would like to give you a message, please do your best to tell the world what is happening to us, the children. So that other children do not have to pass through this violence.”
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.
By definition, a child soldier is any person below 18 years of age who is recruited or used by an armed force in any capacity, including but not limited to children, boys and girls, used as fighters, coo...
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Juliet's Journey. Dir. War Child. Youtube.com. War Child, 23 Sept. 2010. Web. 29 Dec. 2013.
Kony 2012. N.d. Photograph. Www.scallywagandvagabond.com. Scallywag. Web. 6 Jan. 2014.
The Roméo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative. "What Is a Child Soldier?" Childsoldiers.org. The Roméo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative, 2013. Web. 29 Dec. 2013.
Shaikh, Ali. Child Soldiers. N.p.: Mumtaz & Associates, 2001. PDF.
Unicef. "Children in War." Unicef.org. Unicef, n.d. Web. 02 Jan. 2014.
Unicef. Factsheet: Child Soldiers. N.p.: Unicef, n.d. PDF.
Unicef. "Unicef Fact Sheet: Birth Registration." Www.unicef.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Jan. 2014.
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...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.
“This is how wars are fought now: by children, traumatized, hopped-up on drugs, and wielding AK-47s” (Beah). Innocent, vulnerable, and intimidated. These words describe the more than 300,000 children in nations throughout the world coerced into combat. As young as age seven, boys and girls deemed child soldiers participate in armed conflict, risking their lives and killing more innocent others. While many individuals recollect their childhood playing games and running freely, these children will remember “playing” with guns and running for their lives. Many children today spend time playing video games like Modern Warfare, but for some children, it is not a game, it is reality. Although slavery was abolished nearly 150 years ago, the act of forcing a child into a military position is considered slavery and is a continuously growing trend even today despite legal documents prohibiting the use of children under the age of 18 in armed conflict. Being a child soldier does not merely consist of first hand fighting but also work as spies, messengers, and sex slaves which explains why nearly 30 percent of all child soldiers are girls. While the use and exploitation of these young boys and girls often goes unnoticed by most of the world, for those who have and are currently experiencing life as a child soldier, such slavery has had and will continue to have damaging effects on them both psychologically and physically.
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.
Throughout the world children younger than 18 are being enlisted into the armed forces to fight while suffering through multiple abuses from their commanders. Children living in areas and countries that are at war are seemingly always the ones being recruited into the armed forces. These children are said to be fighting in about 75 percent of the world’s conflicts with most being 14 years or younger (Singer 2). In 30 countries around the world, the number of boys and girls under the age of 18 fighting as soldiers in government and opposition armed forces is said to be around 300,000 (“Child Soldiers: An Overview” 1). These statistics are clearly devastating and can be difficult to comprehend, since the number of child soldiers around the world should be zero. Furthermore, hundreds of thousands adolescent children are being or have been recruited into paramilitaries, militias and non-state groups in more than 85 countries (“Child Soldiers: An Overview” 1). This information is also quite overwhelming. Child soldiers are used around the world, but in some areas, the numbers are more concentrated.
Capturing children and turning them into child soldiers is an increasing epidemic in Sierra Leone. Ishmael Beah, author of the memoir A Long Way Gone, speaks of his time as a child soldier. Beah was born in Sierra Leone and at only thirteen years old he was captured by the national army and turned into a “vicious soldier.” (Beah, Bio Ref Bank) During the time of Beah’s childhood, a civil war had erupted between a rebel group known as the Revolutionary United Front and the corrupt Sierra Leone government. It was during this time when the recruitment of child soldiers began in the war. Ishmael Beah recalls that when he was only twelve years old his parents and two brothers were killed by the rebel group and he fled his village. While he and his friends were on a journey for a period of months, Beah was captured by the Sierra Leonean Army. The army brainwashed him, as well as other children, with “various drugs that included amphetamines, marijuana, and brown brown.” (Beah, Bio Ref Bank) The child soldiers were taught to fight viciously and the effects of the drugs forced them to carry out kill orders. Beah was released from the army after three years of fighting and dozens of murders. Ishmael Beah’s memoir of his time as a child soldier expresses the deep struggle between his survival and any gleam of hope for the future.
During the civil war, Boys that were under the age of 18 often signed up for the military. A Lot of the young boys were under the age limit to be in the military, their parents, religious leaders and school teachers would support their decisions to enlist.Most of the time the boys would lie about their age, Or they would run away from their house’s and their families, And they would change their names so they could enlist and if the young men died in battle they would be remembered as their fake name. If their was a honests soldier they would be assigned to the job for their age limit. If they were 16 years old they would be a
First, I think there shouldn’t be Child Soldiers because their brain hasn’t fully developed, which means they will be scared. For example, when they have to kill someone, they’re going to panic and then run away and get killed. Also, if they kill someone, they’re going to see the blood gushing and would want to go home. For example, they will shoot someone and then see them fall down, then they will go up to see they are “OK” and they will see the blood and try to help them which will get them killed, Or one of their fellow mates will get injured and then they’ ll see the blood and panic and won’t know what to do. My point is they will be scared.
Child soldiers are kids who are usually under 18 that become a soldier and fight in a war, and most of the time they are forced, but sometimes this can be dangerous to and can be harmful to the child. Child soldiers are victims because they can get injured or even killed, can cause crimes, and are given drugs. Children are forced to do things because of their innocence and can be easily worked into becoming ruthless tools of war. Children are being granted amnesty for fighting as victims of war that they shouldn’t be taking part in. For many years, the debate about child soldiers has continued, but still has no definite answer.
“UNICEF estimated that in 1988, almost 200,000 children were involved in military actions as soldiers and fighters. In the 1980’s, many children joined armed groups in Cambodia to get food and protection (Yale University Bulletin).” Although the UNICEF has been fighting against children soldier abuses and child soldier slavery, every year in many countries, the rate of abuse and slavery has been rising. Yale university students demonstrate to the world how the government in many countries know that children soldiers are being traded in their countries but they do not protect their future generations from this chaos. I used this source in my essay because its aware why children have been joining to military for many decade to get protection and food.
To begin, most of the child soldiers are not volunteering to be a soldier. According to Unicef, 80% of child soldiers are forcibly recruited. Some are taken from
A child soldier is anyone under the age of eighteen who is a member of government armed forces or any other armed group. Child soldiers should not be given amnesty, therefore, they should be prosecuted. This is because they have as much responsibility for their actions as everyone else, and most kids volunteer to become soldiers out of patriotism or desire to average the death of their families.
During the past year of 2017, the amount of enlisted child soldiers in the Middle East and North Africa have doubled, specifically in places that are corrupted by war such as Syria Yemen and Iraq. One may ask what a child soldier is. A child soldier, according to the United Nations definition, is a soldier that is under the age of 18. The use of them is frowned upon in many places and is also often illegal, even though researchers estimate that there are now 28 million active child soldiers across the globe. That means one in fifty children is a child soldier.
Today, an estimated three hundred thousand children under age eighteen are participating in armed conflicts worldwide. The life of a child soldier is filled with terror, violence, horrible living conditions, lack of proper sanitization and poor nutrition. Children are forced by commanders through false promises and manipulation, to kill innocent civilians, other children and even their own families. “Shooting became just like drinking a glass of water” said Ishmael Beah, an ex-child-soldier, “children who refused to fight, kill or showed any weakness were ruthlessly dealt with.” In the last ten years over two million children have been killed, over one million orphaned, over six million have been left seriously injured or permanently disabled and over 10 million have been diagnosed with psychological trauma.
Child soldiers are individuals under the age of 18 who are forced to fight within armed forces. According to UNICEF 30,000 children worldwide are considered to be child soldiers.Kidnapped from schools and homes to be used as cooks, guards and spies. Girls are especially targeted and used as sex slaves or given as wives to commanders. In 1989 the Convention on the Rights of children layouts, articles about the correct treatment of any child. The document clearly layouts articles about the correct treatment of children and child soldiers defies all of them in particular article 36 protection from harm and 9 separation from parents. Currently, child soldiers occur all around the world, however, Somalia is a particularly threatening location. According to officials at the UN Children's fund 5,000 children are under control of the East African terrorist group Al-Shabab.
According to a powerpoint called Child soldiers: a story of their lives it said,”Most child soldiers are 14 to 17 years old.” That's old enough where you should know what to do and cut a runaway or something it's not like you didn't know anything at that age. “They weren't forced, they joined because we heard you could get money there.” (girl soldier from the Democratic Republic of Congo) This proves the point that not everyone was forced into being a Child Soldier.