Child Soldier Persuasive Essay

“In the last ten years, two million child soldiers have been killed, more than one million orphaned, more than six million left injured or permanently disabled, and more than 10 million diagnosed with psychological trauma” (Invisible Children). But that is only the beginning of this problem and it could get worse. Many young children find themselves in the army for various reasons. They commit many acts that are deemed as crimes. Some people think that they should be pardoned and some think otherwise. Even if people think that child soldiers should not receive amnesty, the child soldiers must be given amnesty because they are not responsible for their actions, they do not always have a choice, and because they have suffered a lot of pain and need help.
Debatewise.org states, “the recruiters of child soldiers also use drugs and alcohol to make children more compliant and to enable them to commit acts they would not ordinarily commit.” No right-minded child without the influence of drugs would commit these treacherous acts. If an adult cannot withstand drugs and alcohol given on a daily basis, then, how are little kids supposed to handle them? To be clear, the symptoms of a child taking drugs and alcohol would be worse than adults. Ishmael Beah, a former child soldier gives an interview on The Hour and describes his experience being a soldier. He says, “The life of a child soldier is, basically, you go out, you shoot people, and you do whatever the commanders want you to do. If not, they will kill you.” Many children would have the fear of being killed. Imagine a brute looking adult threatening an 8-year-old with a pistol. The children do not have a choice, nor do they know any better since they do not have a family to teach them the difference between what is wrong and right. Their brains are still far from being fully