...18 Stripped of a Childhood Somewhere in the world, there are thousands of soldiers fighting for their rights and beliefs. These soldiers are not heroic figures, or even part of the military. They are drugged children, being sent out with weapons and being forced to kill. The issue of whether or not child soldiers deserve amnesty has been a debate that has been going on for years. Fourteen countries throughout the world have used these children as suicide bombers, slaves, and sources of military, for many decades. Many have been rescued from this ordeal, but, “estimates suggest that as many as 300,000 child soldiers are active in conflicts around the world,” (Chatterjee, paragraph 2). Child soldiers deserve amnesty, since they are kidnapped,...
Words: 1459 - Pages: 6
...Beah woke up everyday as a child soldier. He trained and went to go attack enemies and villages. When he needed motivation or when he had accomplished his goal, he went to do drugs and shoot guns with his friends. He didn’t choose to be a child soldier and commit terrible actions on his own. He was forced to do these actions and was bribed to execute orders from his commanders. Ishmael’s situation is not uncommon around the world. In fact, there are multiple amounts of people who are/were child soldiers. Though a fraction of child soldiers were committed to being a child soldier, most of them are forced into the war. If they do not do what they are told, they could be killed. This issue is a hotly debated topic. While...
Words: 1783 - Pages: 8
...Child Soldiers The use of child solider has become more and more common. Throughout history children have been forcibly recruited to participate in military campaigns, many times even against there own people. Child soldiers are any children under the age of 18 who are recruited by a sate or non-state armed group as fighter, cooks, suicide bombers, human shields, messenger spies or for sexual purposes. It is estimated that 30000 child soldiers are currently active around the world and this number is growing larger each year. Child soldiers are used for a few main reasons. Children are much easier to brain wash then any adult, as a child you do not understand how death really works and it is very easy to convince children that killing is nothing more then a game. Being a child you also lack the sense of fear and awareness of a situation that you develop over the years, due to this the smallest children as young as 7 years old are given AK47’s and are usually placed closet to the enemy. Children are also know to be very unpredictable and this is favored among those recruiting them being said that this makes them better fighters. Children also require much less food than any full grown adult; children also do not require any pay and these are two major ways to save money. Children are also often chosen due to how easy they are to recruit. Many children are abducted right from there homes. Villages are also sometimes forced to provide a certain number of children annually...
Words: 913 - Pages: 4
...The issue of whether we should give child soldiers amnesty has been debated many times throughout the years. It is an important issue because people don't want children out on the streets who know how to kill people in many different ways. Children as young as nine could be out there and know how to use a gun. A variety of arguments have been put towards this issue. Ultimately, these children should be given amnesty. Commanders are getting child soldiers addicted to drugs and alcohol and bending them against their will. "More often than not children have no say in whether they enlist or not and once recruited the children become brainwashed through the use of drugs and alcohol." (“Child Soldiers:...”) These children do not have a choice and are being forced to drink and do drugs. Sometimes, the drugs make them want to stay. "The drugs, often cocaine mixed with gunpowder, brainwash the children to the point where they would rather not escape from the horror unraveling around them." (“Child Soldiers:...”) They do not understand what's happening to them and they can not make it stop....
Words: 574 - Pages: 3
...Child soldiers essay draft Some children all over the world each day are forced to do things that they do not want to do to stay alive. They ask themselves questions every day such as, will I eat today? Where will I sleep? Am I going to kill anyone? Any child who has been through this deserves amnesty when they are drugged, abused and forced to do things they do not want to do to stay alive. But more thought should be put into child soldier amnesty cases when they choose to become a soldier and are old enough to understand what they are doing. Children between the ages of nine and fifteen are taken into captivity, drugged and abused because of simple mistakes that they make as a soldier. According to an article written by UNICEF, many...
Words: 1204 - Pages: 5
...Some children in parts of Africa are forced to become child soldiers and kill, but they don’t deserve amnesty for the lives they’ve taken. These child soldiers had been on very influential drugs, but killing other people isn’t tolerated in other countries, other villages. Yes, these children had been on serious drugs, that does not disregard the lives they have taken. An amount of children had been forced to become soldiers, some believe they deserve amnesty just because they had been on serious drugs. These children had been on high amounts of cocaine, so they couldn’t control what they were doing. Omar Khadr had been a child soldier, but does not deserve amnesty for the things he did, and what he says about it. Khadr had killed many Americans, and he brags about killing them too. These child soldiers do not deserve amnesty for what they have done. Even though these child soldiers were on serious drugs, that does not excuse the lives lost due to their actions. These children that are soldiers aren’t different from child criminals. Even though these killers are children, that doesn’t dismiss the fact that they had killed many people. Allowing these child soldiers immunity from prosecution denies victims justice. If these children get immunity, the victims’ families might feel betrayed because these children can commit a crime and get away...
Words: 614 - Pages: 3
...Child Soldiers: Criminals or Victims? Children are known as the innocence of society. The ever growing problem of child soldiers is a saddening and striking one. They are clearly victims of a much larger game ran by militias and corrupt governments, they are not wrong, but are wronged. Children are pushed and nudged into taking up arms through different ways .In war torn regions, Children are grown up and raised with the plague of war, it is all they know. They are not accustomed to regular childhoods, and they have no opportunities, so children tend to follow what they see, which is war and bloodshed. Militia leaders in third world countries tend to drug children and force them into being soldiers, upon refusal they even threaten and kill...
Words: 1923 - Pages: 8
...any words with children one word that will constantly keep coming to mind will be innocence. Yes innocence which is defined as lack of guile or corruption is the word that comes to mind for most people that live in a civilized setting. However in at least 12 countries in Africa I doubt that children bring thoughts of innocence since many have been forced to join militias and rebel groups that are predominantly associated with one word, death. Even though there have been at least 12 countries with a documented history of child soldiers this paper will focus on one country in Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo. The research will describe how and why children are becoming soldiers, what life is like for child soldiers, how some children avoid becoming soldiers, and what happens to the soldiers when they become free. Since 1997 the Democratic Republic of Congo has become something like a never-ending nightmare, one of the bloodiest conflicts since World War II, causing more than five million deaths. It seems inconceivable that the biggest country in sub-Saharan Africa and on paper one of the richest, packed with copper, diamonds and gold, as well as immense farmlands of great fertility and enough hydropower to light up the continent, is now one of the poorest, and most hopeless nations on earth. Unfortunately, there are no promising solutions within grasp, or even within sight. One of the gloomiest parts about this nightmarish conflict is the use of child soldiers. The overwhelming...
Words: 1381 - Pages: 6
...Syria and many other countries in the world there are still children being recruited to war. (according to Reliefweb) In fact, child soldiers are used for fighting. For instance, kids are forced to take part in wars, forced to kill, and commit other acts of violence. In addition,the children are used as cooks, porters, messengers, informants, spies or anything their commanders want them to do. Many people believe that child soldiers should not be given amnesty, however, I believe that these juveniles should because they are forced to take part in the military, are also not old enough to know how to make the right decisions. Also these adolescents do not have 100% control over their...
Words: 1451 - Pages: 6
...thousands of child soldiers are put on the front lines each day. Their lives put at risk for values most of they don't even believe in. We don’t allow child soldiers in the U.S., let alone, capturing and beating children to become soldiers. Child soldiers have been around for hundreds of years. Why has it taken us so long to notice that we should do something. So why have we let other countries capture kids and use them on the battlefield? Ten-year-olds in the U.S. are running around on the playground, playing cars and enjoying childhood while other ten-year-olds are being scarred for life with gruesome images of war. Child soldiers are robbed of their childhood and of their childlike qualities; one of the...
Words: 1921 - Pages: 8
...Although it is clear that child soldiers deserve amnesty, there is still a minor exception that needs to be accounted for. If child soldiers volunteered to enter the rebels, and entered the group from free will, then they should not get amnesty. These children use the excuse of being pressured into the army, but lots of child soldiers do choose to enter the army. Children who “are not forced to be soldiers volunteer themselves because...they are under the impression that volunteering will provide a form of income, food, or security, and willingly join the group”(11 Facts About Child Soldiers). Many of these children join the rebel group because they believe it will make everything better. They had the choice to stay out of the trouble, and...
Words: 359 - Pages: 2
... of soldiers, still alive today, who were forced into war as children. Because many of these child soldiers were forced into warfare and had no choice but to partake in the violence, they should be granted amnesty by the United Nations. Additionally, many readers believe that these soldiers are too young to be held accountable for the actions they were forced into. Furthermore, these warriors had only two options when facing tough situations: cooperate with their commanders or be brutally murdered for not fighting. Perhaps the most important piece of information on this topic is the fact that child soldiers had no choice but to comply with orders given to them. Oftentimes, they “are pushed by their adult commanders into perpetrating atrocities” through threats of mistreatment, torture, or even the murder of loved ones (Johannesburg, paragraph 8). In more extreme cases, if the children refused to fight, they were seen as ‘worthless’ or ‘inferior’ and killed. Moreover, child soldiers were taken advantage of by their chiefs through deception. Even further, they were often scared into believing that daily fighting, murdering, and death were the societal norm for everyone, which is a foggy perception of the world....
Words: 500 - Pages: 2
...Halloween time. Millions of childrens across the US have adorned the costumes of their favorite soldier, dreaming of engaging in warfare, only to abandon the costume the following day. For children of Sierra Leone however, the costume is plastered against their bodies, and the dreams of the American children is their reality. Children residing in Sierra Leone from the years of 1991- 2002 were forced to participate in their country’s civil war, having to endure countless atrocious experiences. If these children are able to evade death for a long enough time, they may be lucky enough to be moved to a completely foreign area for rehabilitation and reintegration back into regular society. However, due to their role in the war, child soldiers...
Words: 1188 - Pages: 5
...Imagine, a small child, born and raised in a country of conflict, holding a fully automatic rifle, ready to fight in war, this is a picture of a child soldier. The media does not show you the real news of innocent children fighting for their lives to survive and elude the conflict for a better life and future. The silence of the people continues to support the serious issue, passively letting it happen to vulnerable children who are in need of care and help. Children are forced by their leaders/commanders to do the unimaginable such as killing innocent civilians, other children, and even their families, scarring them for life. These young soldiers are deprived from a normal childhood and education as most children have in today's society. Many...
Words: 914 - Pages: 4
...Child Soldiers Scott Birkbeck Distinguished members of the United Nations, I am here today as an advocate for exploited children. Imagine that you are an eleven year old child, when suddenly soldiers break into your home, capture you and kill your entire family. They bring you blindfolded to their army base deep in the jungle. When you get there you witness a sea of other children just like you but walking around with rifles and machetes. If you try to escape they will beat you mercilessly and may even kill you. Now, what if I told you that the soldiers that kidnapped you and brought you to this place are children. They are following orders out of fear in the hope that they will receive food and water for another day. These abducted child soldiers are mostly younger than you and I. Most of them are just seven or eight years old, orphaned and without a loving hand to guide them in their life. They are given weapons and forced to commit atrocious acts of violence and cruelty. If the children fail to obey their commanders, they are often drugged to make it easier for them to follow orders. Their entire childhood has been stolen from them. They have no idea what they are fighting for and their commanders tell them to think of war as a game so they will become fearless. Who could possibly do this to innocent children? One of the most notorious warlords is Joseph Kony and his Ugandan Lords Resistance Army otherwise known as the L.R.A. To increase his military power, he...
Words: 528 - Pages: 3
