The Involvement Of Child Soldiers

“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. Since 2000, the participation of child soldiers has been reported in most armed conflicts in almost every region in the world. They may fight on the front lines, participate in suicide missions, and act as spies, messengers or lookouts. Girls may be forced into sexual slavery. Many are abducted or recruited by force, while others join out of desperation, believing that armed groups a chance for survival. Children are forced by commanders through false promises, drugs and things which
For instance, the United Nations and other organizations are working to get more member states to ratify, sign and agree to the Optional Protocol. The Optional Protocol, which focuses on the involvement of children in armed conflicts throughout the world, was adopted on May 25, 2000 by the United Nations General Assembly. It raised the minimum age for involvement in armed conflict from 15 to 18 years old (“Child Soldiers: An Overview” 9). At the time of integration, 79 states had signed the Optional Protocol, four having already ratified it (“Child Soldiers: An Overview” 10). In the year 2008, it was reported that more than three-quarters of the U.N. member states had signed, ratified or agreed to the involvement of children in armed conflict in the Optional Protocol (Xanthaki 1). One campaign by The Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers is for all states to sign and ratify the Optional Protocol. The organization is being endorsed by the Special Representative of the U.N. Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the United Nations Children’s Fund (“Child Soldiers: An Overview” 10). The campaign also aims to get the U.S. to ratify the new child soldier’s
The main causes of this problem include poor economic stability and the fact that children are so susceptible. Organizations are working to institute international laws that will end the exploitation of child soldiers while helping former child soldiers re-establish themselves into society. In order to help these organizations achieve their goal of having the number of child soldiers zero, the public must open their eyes to the problem and take a stand against groups that are using children as soldiers. In the end, the problem of child soldiers was best stated by P.W. Singer when he said, “Perhaps history will look back upon this period as an aberration, a phase when moral norms broke down but were then restored. That will only happen if we match the will of those who do such evil to children with our own will to do good” (Singer