“Child recruitment spiked sharply last year, with estimates that twelve-thousand children were fighting with both government and non-state armed groups.” Since, child soldiers are forced to go into the army, the children could become physically and mentally damaged from a war they didn’t even start. For this reason child soldiers should receive amnesty. Therefor, it could be struggling to determine whether a child should be given forgiveness or be treated as a victim. These children are so easily brainwashed, most of them won’t even complain, you tell them to kill and they will go kill. It can not possibly be their fault. It’s do as you are told and kill, or be killed. “Exploited, torn from their families, deprived of their education, and forced into battle, child soldiers are truly casualties of war.” stated Scott Gates and Simon Reich. They are getting so much taken away from them and forced to give it all up and given weapons to kill and fight.
“Some children who participated were detained or killed in battle” (Ashawi, 2014). All these children go into war and some are killed right on the spot. ¨Not prosecuting child perpetrators could indirectly expose child soldiers to greater risks¨ (Leahy, 2009). The children could become scarred and mentally ill from experiencing all of these tragic moments as
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Some of them lost all their families and wouldn’t have anywhere to go if they actually made it out alive in the harsh world with a war going on. “The amount of children who have taken part in Syria’s armed conflict is not known” (Ashawi, 2014). So this means there could be so many children who have been in this fight, that if we prosecute them we could be killing thousands of people who were forced into fighting. Sometimes people just need to give amnesty, especially, to
The first reason these kids shouldn’t be prosecuted or punished in any way is because it wasn’t their choice to be a soldier to begin with. According to Child Soldiers, Prosecution, most kids were forced to fight and had no choice of weather to enlist or not. There are about 200,000 child soldiers worldwide state's Armed and Underage, (Gettleman) and these kids are doing things their adolescent brains
...t they are easy to access; they are low cost, and easy to manipulate. When children are on the battlefield fighting for their lives, they become more violent and tend to do more killing than usual, raping girls, and torturing others. The armies, militia, and rebel groups recruit the children and separate the community to resist the conscription. The child is being forced to commit murder and turn against their family and friends because this proves that the child is recognized and implicated in the violence they have created. Child soldiers are known to be criminals, traitors, or even terrorists, so they would be held in military prisons. When either girl or boys are captured they go through abusive interrogation procedure, torture, isolations, rape, and death threats. These are the consequences of children being on the battlefield and shortly after being captured.
Children at such a young age don't have the mental ability to think long term about their actions, especially when they are being forced or drugged. Some may argue that if child criminals get punished for their actions, then child soldiers should too, but that is just not the case. The difference being, child criminals choose to commit their crimes, child soldiers are forced to commit crimes. As an example, in the article Child Soldiers it states, “More often than not, children have no say in whether they enlist or not and once recruited the children have become brainwashed through the use of drugs and alcohol” (Child Soldiers).
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
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.
Children are usually viewed as young people that do not have very much to think about, or have much responsibility. That is not the case for these individuals. In fact, child soldiers/suicide bombers are almost the exact opposite. A child soldier is defined as “anyone under the age of 18 who is part of any kind of regular or irregular armed force or armed group in any capacity” (Human Rights). They are put through hardship in which they do not deserve. Kids should not have these images in their head this young. They should not have to go through this abuse either. Children are abused and mistreated all around the world, and child soldiers/suicide bombers are one of the worst circumstances.
Before it can be decided whether or not to forgive child soldiers, the question, “What is a child soldier?” must be asked. A child soldier, is a person under the age of 18 who is being used, and most often being forced, to fight other people. Some may ask, “How can you force a child to fight if they do not want to?” A better question to ask would be, “Who wants to?” you may think that no child would want to fight, but in their shoes it might be a different story. They have probably lost everything; their homes, food, water, and their safety, so when they see the opportunity to have these things again- they are going to take it. Which is my first reason child soldiers should be forgiven and given amnesty on certain levels. Also, after
Shockingly, many of them have often been spotted carrying very sophisticated weapons, and many weapons that can take down planes. child soldier is detrimental to peace and to children who are the future (British Job p6). most people are wondering why children are used as soldiers. the most basic reason is children are more obedient than adults, they can almost carry out every order from their commander.... ...
Some people argue that in certain situations, child soldiers are too volatile to be let free and therefore not given amnesty. While this is indeed a problem, child soldiers should be taken to a center where they can receive adequate treatment until their psychological state is acceptable for living in the world by themselves. Another reason some people believe child soldiers should not be granted amnesty is because some child soldiers have said that they enjoyed harming others. While this may be true, this is not the true nature of the child and you can hardly blame them for these thoughts because they have been brainwashed and drugged to think this. This should not stop them from receiving amnesty and with the proper psychological treatment, it is nothing to worry
An example in, “Analysis: should child soldiers be prosecuted for their crimes?Pg 1” states that, “ If minor children who have committed serious war crimes are not prosecuted, this could be an incentive for their commanders to delegate them to the dirtiest orders, aiming at impunity.” Also, “Summaative Essay Pg 2,” states that “ Child soldiers have been responsible for some of the most brutal acts in wartime such as rape, mutilation, and mass killings of innocent people,” First of all I would like to direct you to the second piece of evidence. Child soldiers are responsible for man unthinkable actions. These actions change the lives of many people. I believe that the commanders benefit most of all from child soldiers not being prosecuted. If child soldiers are not prosecuted this gives the commander, and the children, reason to think these crimes are okay. And they're
Firstly, It is very hard to understand that an innocent kid who is having fun, learning and discovering the world and all the great things about life, wants to become a deadly killing machine by itself. Children are being conducted into a bloody soldier against their will and opinion,”None of them remembers a time without war, most were turned into soldiers against their will”(Santoro). Kids are the most amazing creatures in the world, they should be available to choose their career and the path they want to follow in life. Every person in the world should remember their childhood like the happiest stage in their lives and to follow their
Though the use of child soldiers is a global concern, the highest numbers have been reported mainly in Africa and Asi...
How would you feel if you were taken away from your family, only to be forced to fight? How would you feel if you were forced to kill others? Would you accept if this was your only access to food, money, and shelter? This is often what child soldiers go through. I believe that child soldiers should be granted amnesty because they are forced to join, they are given drugs, making it hard for them to quit, and because of rehabilitation.
It is also a geostrategic and development issue. Child soldiers are usually depicted as victims. That’s accurate: Exploited, torn from their families, deprived of their education, and forced into battle, child soldiers are truly casualties of war.” (gates)They are then taken as a broken down child and ordered to do kill and them not knowing what there doing, they
Propaganda is very important issue in our society. The word "propaganda" however, has a very negative connotation. This may happen because people tend to associate it with "the enormous campaigns that were waged by Hitler and Stalin,' (Delwiche 2002). Now propaganda has a different face.