People in our society should question the world they live in and what damages they have caused, like forcing a child under the age of 18 to become a soldier. This has occurred in places where there are groups of soldiers looking for child's and forcing them into being a young soldier, due to the way their laws are formed, but with rehabilitation, they can overcome their worst nightmare that has become a reality and lives their lives the way it should have been since the beginning of their youth. In my point of view, we should give these child soldiers amnesty. These children are considered the perfect weapon in battle. Being forced to fight at such a young age and to “commit heinous atrocities, they are undoubtedly victims of these conflicts (Gordon, Par. 2).” They are drugged before battle or are often brainwashed (O'Neill). Children from families are either stolen or sold and turned into terrifying killers (O'Neill). This could be seen by Angela, age 12 points of view “I closed my eyes and fired the gun, but I didn't hit her. So I shot again,” she said. “I had to bury her and put dirt on top of her.” The commander said, 'You'll …show more content…
It’s necessary to think beyond the idea of them wanting to kill, but to think how victimization has taken part of this (Gordon, Par. 29). There are more than 250,000 boys and girls both children and teens, fighting around the world. “Their vulnerability can allow warlords to make them into cold blooded killers (O'Neill).” by putting them in a rehabilitation they will have the chance to heal, maybe not the horrifying events they were meant to do or go through due to their role either as fighters, generally associated with masculinity, or as sex slaves returning from the bush with children of their own (Gordon, par. 30). Instead of focusing in dumb challenges people are doing, we should be focusing on the safety of these children, one being
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
Everyone knows how alcohol can stunt a child's growth of the brain and body, as well as drugs damaging their decision making (Child Soldiers, Prosecution). Not to mention if they are high or drunk that will sway their decisions to a side they normally wouldn’t go. Their leaders have forced them into taking unknown substances or drink a large amount of an alcohol that easily affects the young kids. This makes the kids follow orders easier, but makes them incapable of telling what is right or wrong. Which to their leaders, just makes them “the perfect weapon”(Armed and Underage). It is ultimately not their fault that they have hurt others and if the blame is put on someone, it should be on the ones who recruited and who controlled
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. ISIS have been known to employ the use of children in warfare and over 30,000 children have been abducted into the Lord’s Resistance Army for military purposes. It
...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.
“This is how wars are fought now: by children, traumatized, hopped-up on drugs, and wielding AK-47s” (Beah). Innocent, vulnerable, and intimidated. These words describe the more than 300,000 children in nations throughout the world coerced into combat. As young as age seven, boys and girls deemed child soldiers participate in armed conflict, risking their lives and killing more innocent others. While many individuals recollect their childhood playing games and running freely, these children will remember “playing” with guns and running for their lives. Many children today spend time playing video games like Modern Warfare, but for some children, it is not a game, it is reality. Although slavery was abolished nearly 150 years ago, the act of forcing a child into a military position is considered slavery and is a continuously growing trend even today despite legal documents prohibiting the use of children under the age of 18 in armed conflict. Being a child soldier does not merely consist of first hand fighting but also work as spies, messengers, and sex slaves which explains why nearly 30 percent of all child soldiers are girls. While the use and exploitation of these young boys and girls often goes unnoticed by most of the world, for those who have and are currently experiencing life as a child soldier, such slavery has had and will continue to have damaging effects on them both psychologically and physically.
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
First of all the child soldiers/suicide bombers are located in many different continents all around the world. The majority is based in the Middle East and Africa: Burma, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Congo, Liberia, and also Sierra Leone (British Broadcasting Corporation World Watch). Being poor, disconnected from their families, or get a poor to no education make them more likely to become victims (Human Rights Watch). Girls make up an estimated 10-30% of the child soldiers in Uganda and Nepal (Do Something). Some join because they are too young to realize the consequences that war may bring upon them, and want to be a part of the army because of the weapons they use and uniforms they wear. Being bathed, fed, and properly clothed is another reason for them wanting to be a part of these groups, in which they would not receive during their every-day lives (British Broadcasting Corporation World Watch). The children that survive the war are captured by the rebel groups and are then converted into child soldiers, along with the kids who had just...
Exposure to war at a young age colors the child’s mind with a particular shade. Making them have maladaptive thoughts about how the world is and what it ought to be like. the children may end up knowing that violence is the key to getting what one wants, or that solutions are to their problems are solved through violence. However like Einstein said, “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
Maker, J., Brittain, J., Piraino, G., & Somtow, S. Children Who Kill. World Press Review. June 1993 v40 n6 p21-23.
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 age of 10 when they are forced to serve. Physically vulnerable and easily intimidated, children typically become 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 with no access to school, driving them from their homes, or separating them from family members, many children feel that rebel groups are their best chance for survival.
Throughout the world children younger than 18 are being enlisted into the armed forces to fight while suffering through multiple abuses from their commanders. Children living in areas and countries that are at war are seemingly always the ones being recruited into the armed forces. These children are said to be fighting in about 75 percent of the world’s conflicts with most being 14 years or younger (Singer 2). In 30 countries around the world, the number of boys and girls under the age of 18 fighting as soldiers in government and opposition armed forces is said to be around 300,000 (“Child Soldiers: An Overview” 1). These statistics are clearly devastating and can be difficult to comprehend, since the number of child soldiers around the world should be zero. Furthermore, hundreds of thousands adolescent children are being or have been recruited into paramilitaries, militias and non-state groups in more than 85 countries (“Child Soldiers: An Overview” 1). This information is also quite overwhelming. Child soldiers are used around the world, but in some areas, the numbers are more concentrated.
"The Unthinkable." — Children Who Kill and What Motivates Them. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2014.
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. Children at such a young age don't have the mental ability to think long term of their actions, especially when they are being forced or drugged to. 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
In the twenty first century there have been many cases of kids committing murder, whether it is the relationships they hold at home or the video games they play, the environment a child is exposed to will affect their developmental process. Children are supposed to be innocent and pure without the desire to kill, yet in the last 50 years official statistics on Listverse.com suggest that over 1,100 kids have been found guilty of murder in England alone. The average age of a child that kills is just about fourteen years old. These kids are usually brought up in an environment that does not teach them right from wrong.
ABSTRACT: In society today, homicide rates rise and behind those rates we only see the adults who commit these heinous crimes of violence, but it has trickled down to the children. Throughout the duration of this paper you will see how the children are just as dangerous as the adults, and how it personally has affected my outlook on people. From murderous motives, mental illness, curiosity involving the media, and this idea that the kids are the victims too we see kids trading toys for time.