Why Are Child Soldiers Wrong

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Did you know that human rights experts estimate that more than 200,000 children worldwide are used as soldiers?(Jeffrey Gettleman) These children are prosecuted for the crimes they committed, are forced to fight against their own will, and can be mentally and physically affected afterwards. There may be some conditions where kids choose to go out everyday and kill people, but when you think about, these children are brainwashed with drugs and alcohol by their leader, causing them to commit crimes against humanity without even realizing. As you listen to this, please understand that child soldiers across the world, are not at fault. To begin, most of the child soldiers are not volunteering to be a soldier. According to Unicef, 80% of child soldiers are forcibly recruited. Some are taken from As more and more child soldiers are recruited, more and more are committing crimes, causing them to later be arrested. In spite of that, no child should be prosecuted. In fact, the Children and Justice of Armed Conflict says, “If a child under the age of 15 is considered too young to fight, then he or she must also be considered too young to be held criminally responsible for serious violations of IHL while associated with armed forces or armed groups.”(IRIN) That proves that under some laws, it is illegal to prosecute child soldiers. We should care about our fellow human beings and forgive them because most don’t know what they’ve done. But, other people say that child soldiers are no different from criminals and need to be punished for what they have done.(Debate: Yes & No) Still, prosecution doesn’t make a child any better. What they need is rehabilitation. If they go through something like DDR, children will have a better chance of working through how they feel. So, to prove my point, child soldiers shouldn’t prosecuted for what they’ve done because there are better options like

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