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Soldiers' psychological situation in war
Military children and psychological problems
What are the long term effects on child soldiers
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“Kill your parents.” That is what most child soldiers hear from a commander in order to show their loyalty to their leader. Which is not right under any circumstances. The only reason people do it is because they have issues with other people in the community, they know they will listen because the kids are young and vulnerable at the young age. Also they don't know that what they are doing is very wrong. But without a shadow of a doubt the child soldiers are designed to only one thing, kill.
First, most child soldiers are told to kill their parents. Their commander may tell them to do that in order to show loyalty to the military gang they support. Which is not fair to the children. They are being pulled into adult conflicts. And are given
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And their minds can be molded into what ever anyone wants them to be. So the little kids do not know what they are doing is wrong. In fact they take a sick pleasure in what they do because of their leaders. The real criminals are the leaders. The ones who forces the kids to perform the act are the ones that capture and terize the poor kids.
Finally the chiefs or commanders are the ones that need to handle their issues and problems with themselves. Which could be resolved with a friendly talk between the two opposing sides. This is not the case though. They would rather get young kids to do there dirty work. And get killed. If that wasn't already bad enough they let the kids get a bad reputation with the situation. It is not fair to the poor young kids that they will have to go through all of this alone. And not only that they should not have to go through it at all.
Opposers might say they perform the actions of killing in there own discretion. But that is false information. The kids are forced to kill. They are as young as nine years old. Anything an older person tells them to do they will try to do at the best of their abilities. But if they cause conflict or go against what the leader says they will be beaten senselessly until they
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.
The lack of full emotional development of adolescents can lead to confusion and pressure while making life-or-death decisions during serious situations such as war. Along with being forced into war, living in inferiority to an overpowering presence only enrages the teenagers and their families more about the situation. Suzanne Collins depicts this class difference by writing, “Taking the kids from our districts, forcing them to kill one another while we watch- this is the Capitol’s way of reminding us how totally we are at their mercy. How little chance we would stand at surviving another rebellion” (18). The districts are outraged by the idea of forcing children into a violent atmosphere in which they have to fight each other for their lives.
As defined by Timothy Webster, author of Babes with Arms: International Law and Child Soldiers, a child soldier is “any person under the age of eighteen who is or has been associated with any kind of regular or irregular armed group, including those who serve as porters, spies, cooks, messengers and including girls recruited for sexual purposes (Webster, 2007, pp.230). As this definition reveals, a child soldier is more than simply a child with a gun. It is estimated that there are approximately 300,000 children under the age of 18, being used as soldiers in 33 conflicts currently, and this figure continues to rise (Webster, 2007, pp.227). Similarly, in 1999 it was estimated that more than 120,000 children, under the age of 18, were used as soldiers to fight ...
These children are simply that, children from 6 to 16 who are generalized and treated like pawns in a game of
“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 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
A child soldier is a child who has been abducted and forced to fight in a conflict in which they would not typically be involved in. Child soldiers have their relatively normal childhood taken away if they are abducted. Instead of playing with the other children, they are forced to murder them. Many are forced to watch the people they once knew be tortured and they may even take part in the act. Child soldiers are internationally banned, yet many countries still utilize them to this day. Uganda is one country in which they are used. The use of children in armed combat in Uganda sheds light on the fact that the concept of power is indeed a double-edged sword.
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.
...t the right ones but whatever happens, happens. This contributes to their coming of age because they grow up through experiencing this conflict.
“Compelled to become instruments of war, to kill and be killed, child soldiers are forced to give violent expression to the hatreds of adults” (“Child Soldiers” 1). This quotation by Olara Otunnu explains that children are forced into becoming weapons of war. Children under 18 years old are being recruited into the army because of poverty issues, multiple economic problems, and the qualities of children, however, many organizations are trying to implement ways to stop the human rights violation.
Were not suppose to kill others. I do not think that a child the age of
"The Unthinkable." — Children Who Kill and What Motivates Them. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2014.
Children are very distinctive and are not the same as adults. They should not be able to be held to those same high standards. Gail Garinger author of the article Juveniles Don't Deserve Life Sentences says,“Young people are biologically different from adults. Brain imaging studies reveal that the regions of the adolescent brain responsible controlling
Children Who Kill Talking about children who kill is never easy. When it comes to children who commit murder, the question usually is why. This is the problem no one knows why. There is much debate; were they bullied, or abused. The real question isn’t why they did it.