Child Soldiers In The Military

627 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Psychological impact of war on children

I am a student at Sherwood Middle School, in Sherwood, OR. Our class has debated over whether or not child soldiers deserve amnesty for the crimes they committed while in combat. There are many who are worthy of this, mainly because of the fact that they were captured, drugged, and forced to watch a violent movie before entering the battlefield. It is unjust to punish people who were given no other choice in whether they enlisted in the army or not. While it is true that some child soldiers have been known to volunteer in the army out of patriotism, or other reasons, the vast majority of the children involved in the militaries of 3rd world countries, were forced to join. I am aware of your expertise in this area and I believe that if you gave the former child soldiers a chance to prove that they were given no other choice, they could live happy lives too. As it explains in Child Soldiers, Prosecution, “Children are often forced into fighting and have little choice over whether or not they enlist.” Commanders travel to the various villages of
In, Child Soldiers, Prosecution, it explains, “Many children volunteer to become soldiers in wartime out of patriotism or a desire to avenge the death of their families.” This may show that there is a percentage of children who join the military voluntarily, the amount of kids who were never given the opportunity to refuse far outnumber the others. The children who volunteered on their own behalf are just a small percentage of all the child soldiers in the world. In, Should Child Soldiers Be Prosecuted For Their Crimes?, it describes a boy who was captured and forced to be a soldier, and states, “Ongwen is the first known person to be charged with the same war crimes of which he is also the victim.” Which shows how they were kidnapped and forced to commit the same actions that they, themselves,

Show More
Related

  • Globalization Increases Child Soldiery

    2629 Words  | 6 Pages

    As defined by Timothy Webster, author of Babes with Arms: International Law and Child Soldiers, a child soldier is “any person under the age of eighteen who is or has been associated with any kind of regular or irregular armed group, including those who serve as porters, spies, cooks, messengers and including girls recruited for sexual purposes (Webster, 2007, pp.230). As this definition reveals, a child soldier is more than simply a child with a gun. It is estimated that there are approximately 300,000 children under the age of 18, being used as soldiers in 33 conflicts currently, and this figure continues to rise (Webster, 2007, pp.227). Similarly, in 1999 it was estimated that more than 120,000 children, under the age of 18, were used as soldiers to fight ...

    Read More

  • Should Child Soldiers Be Granted Amnesty

    672 Words  | 2 Pages

    Many kids are involved around the world in violent wars as child soldiers. These children who were forced into being soldiers had no other choice but to face their own death and therefore should be granted amnesty. This is because the great majority of the kids were forced into being war fighters. Even then, some people think that just because they’re kids doesn’t change the fact that they have performed horrible acts, and that they should be punished for their actions. Also, these kids were forced to take drugs and drink alcohol which influenced bad decisions and made them less thoughtful about the harm they were doing. So, child soldiers should get another chance and be granted amnesty after proven worthy.

    Read More

  • The Military Use Of Child Soldiers In Lewis Carroll's Alice In Wonderland

    1596 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Along Way Gone Book Report

    1271 Words  | 3 Pages

    Over the past month or two we have been reading many articles and even the book “ Along Way Gone” by Ishmael Beah. These articles and this book have taken us into some child soldiers stories and what it was like having to participate in the war. These children were forced to take part in these crimes, they were brutally tortured, and many were shot because they didn’t obey their commanders. In my opinion I believe that child soldiers should be granted amnesty.

    Read More

  • Child Soldiers In The Civil War Essay

    782 Words  | 2 Pages

    Children have been used as soldiers in many events, however two that stand out are the use of child soldiers in the Sierra Leone civil war and the drug cartels in Mexico. Most people agree that forcing children to be soldiers is wrong and not humane. The people that make them soldiers transform them into belligerent beings by force. Child soldiers of drug cartels and the armies of Sierra Leone were threatened with their lives if they didn’t become soldiers. The lives of these child soldiers are lives that nobody should live. Situations in both countries are horrible because of the high number of youngsters that are forced to take part in drug use and are transformed into extremely belligerent and inhumane people; in addition they are deprived

    Read More

  • Child Soldiers and Suicide Bombers: The Brave and Courageous

    646 Words  | 2 Pages

    "11 Facts About Child Soldiers." Do Something. N.p., 26 Mar 2004. Web. 22 Nov 2013. .

    Read More

  • Military Children and Deployments

    1531 Words  | 4 Pages

    Military children are in a league of their own, and at very young ages are thrown into situations of great stress. Approximately 1.2 million children live in the U.S. Military families (Kelly. 2003) and at least 700,000 of them have had at least one parent deployed (Johnson et al. 2007). Every child handles a deployment differently, some may regress in potty training, and others may become extremely aggressive. Many different things can happen, in most cases when a parent deploys and the child becomes difficult to handle, it can cause a massive amount of stress on the parent that is not deployed as well as added stress on the parent who is deployed. There are three stages of a deployment, pre-deployment, deployment, and reintegration, being educated on these three things can make a deployment “run” smoothly for the entire family.

    Read More

  • Uganda's Child Soldiers

    1253 Words  | 3 Pages

    "Studies Explore Effects of War on Former Child Soldiers." Science Daily. Web. 6 May 2014. .

    Read More

  • Child Soldiers in Africa

    803 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Child Soldiers

    2240 Words  | 5 Pages

    “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.

    Read More

  • Child Soldiers: Converting Innocent Children into Armed Killers

    3190 Words  | 7 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Child Soldiers Amnesty

    819 Words  | 2 Pages

    One of the major problems in the Middle East is child related. To be specific, child soldiers. It is estimated that there are over 38,000 kids who are forced into being child soldiers (Storr). Because child soldiers can’t prevent their horrific fate, they deserve to be granted amnesty by the United Nations. One main reason why they should be given amnesty is because they are forced and drugged into becoming killers.

    Read More

  • Child Soldiers In The Military

    1107 Words  | 3 Pages

    Now that you realise how much of a problem child soldiers are allowed me to give you some background. Children have been in the military all throughout history but as drummer boys or the girls as chefs. This quickly evolved until boys were marching into a

    Read More

  • Child Soldiers: An Unseen Global Tragedy

    1725 Words  | 4 Pages

    Children are a loved and cherished piece of the human existence, but why are they so often treated as less than they are? “For centuries children have been involved in Military campaigns-- as child ratings on warships, or as drummer boys on the battlefields of Europe,” (United Nations Children’s Fund). Although it seems old fashioned, this is a very prevalent issue that we face today, especially in Africa, the Middle East, and in some parts of South America. Children are used to fulfill a variety of roles, some of which are cooks, frontline soldiers, spies, and/or sex slaves. People see the horrific deeds being done to these innocent children. The question is, are they doing anything to stop these monstrosities? Thankfully, there are organizations

    Read More

  • War Child

    1655 Words  | 4 Pages

    Child Soldiers: The use of children in the military. Child Soldiers have three different roles in armed conflict. They can take a direct part in hostilities, or they can be used for support, such as sexual slaves, lookouts, messengers, and spies. Also, they can be used in the political aspect of war. Because many children have been physically or mentally damaged by their participation in armed conflict, children should not have any involvement in any armed conflict and should be removed indefinitely from warfare. Every child has the right to go to school, free from violence. Children have been used in the military for hundreds of years.

    Read More

More about Child Soldiers In The Military

Open Document