The Pros And Cons Of Child Soldiers

In the world today, there is more than 25 countries who still actively use children in warfare. Child soldiers are human beings under the age of 18 who participate in military actions. They are evidently cheaper to maintain and to train than adult soldiers. They are also more loyal and obedient because the young respect their elders. It has been noted that estimately, 300 thousand children were recruited to fight and perform in war (Child Soldiers.)

To start off, there was never any justice done for the kids who were child soldiers because people weren’t paid for certain jobs they did because of their age. This idea was supported in the article “Armed & Underaged” by

Child Soldiers should not be prosecuted, but should be rehabilitated. These are all the reasons why these children should not be prosecuted. Why I think these children needs to go to rehab is because that they are too young and they are not even mature enough. People who prosecute Child Soldiers Might be insane furthermore, children are not even an adult they might be influenced by drugs and think it is good. unless you are an adult, then you may need to be prosecuted, other than that children are too young to go to rehab and needs to understand life.

On top of that almost all child soldiers are drugged, to subdue them so that they will do what they are told without hesitation. Also while they are drugged the child soldiers are brainwashed by the commanders everyday to trick the kids into thinking what they are doing is good. CNN reporter states that “Once recruited, many are brainwashed, trained, given drugs and then sent into battle with orders to kill.”(O'Neill Paragraph 3) .

The first reason i think that child soldiers should not be prosecuted is because while kids are young they don 't have much control over what they get to do, lots of kids have to do what their parent or guardian says, and i am sure that when kids get recruited they have no choice but to go. In an article i read said that when a child soldier is recruited that they have no choice but to join. This matches with the story because it explains that kids don’t have a choice but to join when they get recruited. Kids also don’t get to choose what

Child Soldiers are victims. First, these children are being forced by commanders to fight in war. "They lack the mental maturity and judgment to express consent or to fully understand the implications of their actions… and are pushed by their adult commanders into perpetrating atrocities" (IRIN). The commanders are taking advantage of these innocent children because the commanders know how easily influenced the children are. These commanders making the kids significantly less innocent.

Not only have these child soldiers have been through harsh conditions of training and taken away, but child soldiers should be given amnesty because they were easy to be manipulated or forced to do such crimes. The strategy that these training camps do to manipulate these child soldiers is placing drugs to their systems, to which can cause many to be confused or to not think rationally for what actions they take upon. The article, “A Former Child Soldier Shares His Story In New Graphic Novel,” Chikwanine shares his story of when he was a young child to where they have forced him from drugs to do a crime upon his friends. The text states, “There, a fighter drugged him with a mix of cocaine and gunpowder. Chikwanine was blindfolded and made to hold a gun, then told

This literary piece “The Making and Unmaking of a child soldier” by Ishmael Beah, unravels aspects of the world often looked over. The book opens an eye on how child soldiers are used as spawn for civil wars for ruthless warlords over drug empires in Sierra Leone. Children are forced to become soldiers to serve for military and save their country, Sierra Leone. Child soldiers are also forced to work and there are many different jobs which are given to child soldiers.

In america we don’t send kids into war, and abuse isn’t looked over in court. In war ridden places child soldiers have faced war, abuse, and seen things american kids couldn’t even imagine. American kid criminals, and child soldiers are two different situations. Child soldiers both girls, and boys go through abuse, manipulation, and sometimes sexual assault. The kids , once they realized what 's happened, want to get away and get a better life.

But, some children do willingly join the armed forces in order to work for their country. These child soldiers are often persuaded into harming their families to make sure that they are not capable of leaving the army and returning to a

Imagine yourself being dragged into war after being drugged and now forced to kill people or you will be killed in return. It is a horrific site to imagine yet some children go through these things in early life and will be left with the images of dead people forever. After having these experiences, they will have psychological damage throughout their life. Some of the kids have even watched their loved ones be killed just to go to camp and kill more people in the process of seeking safety. The children live in conditions where they are in great danger of being shot and don’t eat the food that they greatly need to be a healthy child.

An insightful author states that “Stolen kids turned into terrifying killers,” child soldiers without punishment have the potential to grow up to become a generation of killers (O’Neill). This shows how obvious the need to hold child soldiers accountable for their actions really is, and why the adults in this situation need to be held accountable so actions like this do not happen again. In addition, a second article elaborates on this idea. In the article, she states that “child soldiers are both victims and perpetrators” (Leahy). With this in mind, it is important to state how child soldiers that seem innocent can have worrying truths.

Child soldiers are unaware of their actions due to the drugs and alcohol pulsing through their bodies making them more compliant than they otherwise would be. In the article, Armed and Underage, states that, “... they are easily manipulated, intensely loyal, fearless and, most important, in endless supply. ”(Gettleman, Pg 6). This expresses that children have many traits that adults don't, making them much easier targets to the rebel groups. In the same writing piece the text states that, “‘These kids can be so easily brainwashed,’ Ali say.

When I think of a soldier, I think of a strong young man fighting for his country. When I think of a child, I get the image of a young child playing outside with no worries in the world and no responsibilities. However, this is not true, as there are millions of children who have become child soldiers and have been displaced in the world. What makes children want to become child soldiers? Children become soldiers for their governments, as they recruit them.

Here in the United States, the Federal Criminal Code currently does not address the issue of child recruitment, nor does it allow prosecution of an individual who has recruited or used child soldiers in another country and then attempts to take safe haven in this country. The Child Soldier Accountability Act would address this gap. It would make it a federal crime to recruit or use child soldiers under the age of 15, and allow the prosecution of individuals for this crime, whether committed here or abroad by either US citizens or non-citizens present in the United States. The bill imposes penalties of up to 20 years to life in prison, and also allows the US to deport or deny entry to individuals who have recruited children as soldiers.