Argumentative Essay On Child Soldiers

Everyday you get to wake up and you are privileged enough to go to school, eat food, have clothes, friends and overall a normal life. But imagine waking up and being violently dragged out of your own home, taken away from your parents, being armed with a weapon and are forced to go into combat.. killing people; perhaps even your own family. Well that’s just a glimpse at what it’s like to become a child soldier. Former child soldier, Ishmael Beah says he ‘sometimes feels that living in New York City, having a good family and friends, and just being alive is a dream, that perhaps this second life of mine isn’t really happening.’ (Beah) But what are child soldiers you might ask? They are any children under the age of 18, recruited by an armed
They are under the influence of older people, following the orders of these men rather than acting upon their own free will. The main reason why mostly children are recruited in the first place is because they are more obedient and are easily scared/ persuaded by adults. Statistics even show that in the District of Chad there are between 7,000 and 10,000 children in combat. (Stewart) Do you think that is because the children are better in combat? No. Being away from their parents, any older figures in their minds are in control of them. They are too young to process their actions and are quite aware that if they don’t obey they are given drugs/ alcohol to make them more compliant. People may argue that although it was threatened, someone else didn’t pull the trigger for them. And that these kids are violent machines, incapable of feeling remorse..that they should have dropped their weapons and ran. However; do you honestly think it is that easy to just leave? They are afraid of being shot on spot, they are afraid of being searched for, and they are afraid of being killed. A past child soldier, Agnes, shares how when she was at the young age of 10 that she was forced to kill another child trying to escape. (War Child, UK) Do you think she would try to run, herself after seeing what the army was capable of? Not only that but where would they go? Most of their families are dead. Even if they aren’t
These kids are being ripped away from their homes and families, sometimes even forced to kill their loved ones..so don’t tell me it’s voluntary. The only case in which it may be voluntarily is if they feel societal pressures and think joining will provide them food, a source of income, like they are part of something, etc. But whether they volunteer or not they have no idea what is in store when they enlist because they have never been in war before. They aren’t fully aware that most of them will die. So even if they enlisted themselves they probably didn’t think carefully through their decision or been aware of what it was actually like. Ishmael Beah explained to the New York times that when he was at the young age of 12, he was separated from his family as the Sierra Leone civil war was upon his country. (New York Times) And although that is only once instance there are hundreds upon hundreds