Child Soldiers

903 Words2 Pages

Paper 4: Synthesis
Worldwide the use of child soldiers is a serious issue. Today there are about 300,000 children as young as nine years old involved in armed conflicts all around the globe. These children are living under constant fears of being trapped in an ambush, landmines or gunfire. Girls are used as well in fact approximately one third of child soldiers are girls, they are given the same job as the boys but are used as a sex slaves and forced to be the “wives” of their commanders. Girls are often infected with sexually transmitted diseases or HIV/AIDS and have great possibilities of being pregnant. Both boys and girls are faced with great psychological pain after being a character in war. This issue is most common in Africa but children are also used in several Asian countries, parts of Latin America, the Middle East and Europe. Non-government armed groups are the main culprits for using children as soldiers. Living conditions for child soldiers are usually very harsh and discipline is kept by brutal unjust punishments. Life is very dangerous, surrounded by intense drug use and an environment that lacks food, drinking water and has little sanitation. Many children die from theses causes under such inhuman conditions. It is up to first world countries such as the United States to intervene to prevent these children from having their basic human rights stolen from them.
The article “Exploring the Recruitment and Use of Child Soldiers” by Stian Eisentrager, analyzes the recent media attention on children being used as soldiers in war in developing nations such as Liberia and clarifies the causes of the recruitment of child soldiers. The article discusses cultural differences between first and third world countries that crea...

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...ng abducted from their homes, forced to join military forces either by government or rebel forces. These children are traumatized, vulnerable and forced into committing horrific acts of violence, just so that they can ensure their own survival. It is crucial in the protection of these children to have stronger efforts than what is currently taking place to ensure the safety of children and their basic human rights.

Works Cited

Eisentrager, Stian. "Exploring the Recruitment and Use of Child Soldiers." e-international relations. 1-9 May 2007. Web. 27 Oct. 2013.

Hill, Karl. “Rehabilitation programs for African Child Soldiers.”
Peace Review (Palo Alto, Calif.) 2003. Volume 15 Article 3

Howana, Alcinda, Kathleen Sheldon. Child Soldiers in Africa. The International Journal of African Historical Studies , Vol. 39, No. 3 (2006), pp. 509-511Published by: Boston

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