Informative Essay On Child Soldiers

Child soldiers are defined as children, meaning they are under eighteen years old, who are used in the military. The military purposes for which they are used include fighting in combat, but may also entail jobs such as being cooks, porters, messengers, informants, or spies. Both boys and girls can be child soldiers. Children in the military are at the mercy of their commanders and must do whatever they are told to do or else risk being killed. This issue is completely unjust because child soldiers are forced to take part in horrific violence, including killing other human beings and acting as suicide bombers. Through mental manipulation, they are stripped of their innocence and made to believe they are fighting for a good cause, thus
In addition to the violence that child soldiers must inflict on others, they are subject to abuse as well, with many being sexually abused and beaten by their own commanders or other soldiers. Every aspect of the use of child soldiers is unjust, from the way they are recruited, to the acts of violence they must commit once they are soldiers, to the way many of them die because of their participation in war. Therefore, this is a social justice issue that must be given a great deal of attention (Child Soldiers International 1). The use of child soldiers is prevalent throughout the Middle East and North Africa. There are many extremist armed groups in this region, such as ISIS and the Taliban, who are hurting children, families, and communities by actively recruiting children on a daily basis (Child Soldiers International 2). In Afghanistan, the Taliban is increasing the number of child soldiers they use. Since the middle of 2015, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of child soldiers fighting for the Taliban (Afghanistan: Taliban Child Solider Recruitment Surges 1). Afghan child soldiers recently have been experiencing some of the