Preview

Essay On Child Soldiers

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
537 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Essay On Child Soldiers
Are Child Soldiers Victims or Perpetrators?
Children all around the world today are different. Many enjoy reading, other sports. They are innocent and precious to many. But other children are not given the childhood they deserve. They are child soldiers forced, drugged, fed alcohol and armed, ready to go to war. They are victims, they believe what they are doing the right thing.They should be allowed amnesty.
The child soldiers believe what they are doing is right,they are fighting for their country, protecting people, they even have a family. Even if they know what they are doing is wrong,they will be shot or killed if they try to leave.“We were given the option, fight or leave. Except they would shoot you if you try to leave.” A child
…show more content…
Thy will be shot or killed but also, they depend on of the commander for food, money, drugs and alcohol.They become addicted and stay to be provided for. It’s a big family, for some of them, they are given a roof over their head that some children there have never had.”Most children are forcibly recruited and even when they enlist they may not have thought carefully about their decision or made an informed choice.”(Child Soldiers, Prosecution, page 11). Some had just witnessed their families death and the adult soldiers take advantage of them. They also think differently than adults their minds are not fully developed until age 22. They should have amnesty because they were drugged and many were forced to do their act. Also, not all fully understood what was happening because they process information differently because they are children.
Some people believe that they should be persecuted because many children volunteer to become soldiers, out of patriotism or a desire to avenge the death of their families. “Being a soldier is also a way of earning money.”(Child Soldiers, Prosecution, page 11). Some even believe that they the children knew exactly what they were doing. They believe that the children should not be given

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Do Child Soldiers Deserve Amnesty? Child soldiers are used all around the world, and are being abused, and forced to commit horrible acts just to survive. With these children under the age of 18 being taken or literally forced into becoming a soldier in the ranks of drug addicts and murderers, it is clear these children aren’t acting or thinking like they would be had they never been involved in warfare. These children, whether or not they have ever committed an crime against humanity, deserve amnesty or political forgiveness for their actions as they were forced, under the influence of drugs, and don't have the same decision making skills as adults. However, what for those who were killed by these soldiers, for the families who lost their…

    • 945 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    You sit in a trench and wait for your orders to come. You look left and right to see your comrades sitting with you, but they aren’t grown men and women, they are children. Your mind is unsteady and lightheaded from the drugs you were given. When you look out of the trench you see children only eight years of age marching into a village and burning everything down to a smoldering ash. Some children do it for protection others doing it for their religion. Hundreds of lives were taken when the village burned down, and it was all at the hands of children. Child soldiers have been in existence for years. People believe that child soldiers should be punished for their crimes and put into jail, but why? Why would you put a little one in jail when they were told what they were doing was right? These minors have not been given the proper chance to live a life to the fullest of their potential.…

    • 668 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Child soldiering is a global problem. Worldwide, there are about 300,000 child soldiers, most of them taken from their homes, forced to take drugs, and then told to shoot people for their superior’s amusement. Not only this but they are tortured, and treated like slaves for the rest of their lives. Even if they try to escape they will most likely be shot, but if they do end up escaping they will just end up being taken by someone else.…

    • 991 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Imagine children, that people typically see running around town and enjoying themselves, actually being forced into combat around the world for no reason. In some places such as Africa and South America, armies are forcing children to fight in their battles. When the children fight they are committing crimes such as raping, beating and maiming. These places are debating over the issue on whether or not child soldiers should be forgiven for what they have been forced to do. Child soldiers should be given amnesty because, they have no control over their life, they were under a bad influence, and they were forced to fight.…

    • 1542 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    My first reason this selfish horrible crime should stop is that the children are sometimes forcibly recruited. Debatewise.com says that “Most children are forcibly recruited and even when they enlist they may not have thought carefully about their decision or made an informed choice”. ("Child Soldiers, Prosecution"). That being said…

    • 1285 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Imagine if you were forced to kill others for whole years of your life, seeing the people bleed out each and every time as they struggle to hold onto life.This is what child soldiers are put through almost every day. In some parts of the world, such as Sierra Leone. There is tremendous disputes over child soldiers. Everyday hundreds if not thousands of child soldiers are drugged, abused, and brainwashed to kill others in the battlefields of Sierra Leone and countries alike. Now after all this, these children are being captured by governments across the world and are being prosecuted for their crimes…

    • 599 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The issue of using children as soldiers in war has a long history, and it is an issue that needs to be stopped. However, only “since 2000, the participation of child soldiers has been reported in most armed conflicts and in almost every region of the world. Although there are no exact figures, and numbers continually change, tens of thousands of children under the age of 18 continue…

    • 526 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Child Soldiers In Africa

    • 297 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In one year 20,000 kids were kidnapped and made into soldiers. The treatment of these children is beyond imagination. Right after being taken some are forced to shoot their own family members. Then the captors brainwash them giving them clothes, violent video games, and drugs. Almost all who are exposed become addicted to the drugs. A very short time later, these kids are sent to the battlefield. They run at the front for easy targets and distraction. For most of these children that means death. For those who live it might be considered even worse. Normal soldiers have a hard enough time. But kids?…

    • 297 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    On the other hand, child soldiers should be prosecuted because they are committing horrible and horrendous crimes and are basically child criminals. “Over the course of the past decades child…

    • 837 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Child Soldiers Inhumane

    • 1117 Words
    • 5 Pages

    “Christian children's fund”, finds that many militant groups need child soldiers for many reasons. Children are very small and hard to detect, a lot of militant groups use them for spying and many other things. In the Iraq-Iran war they sent hundreds of children in waves over minefields and were told if they wouldn't then they would be shot. This violates many human rights and is inhumane in many ways. Children hit by mines have a very low chance of surviving. If it were and adult they have way higher chance of survival and may walk away with little injury or a lost limb. Children so young should be living out their lives safely at home with their families. Although these instances are very rare, they are still a serious problem today. Often times though children are used carry food, water, medical supplies, cook, clean or do many medical persedurs. In this way child soldiers could be beneficial in some areas where the adult population is severely demolished. Many countries don't have enough funding for vaccines which also contributes to a low populations. This also makes the use of child soldiers unavoidable in some of these low profit…

    • 1117 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In over twenty countries around the world children are direct participants in war. All through history and in many cultures children have been used in military actions, even when such actions were against cultural morals. Dating back to the 70’s several countries have held conventions to deter this widespread dilemma. The violence, torture and abuse these children face or are asked to do is horrific. Many of the youth are under fifteen years old, recruited to be soldiers, forced into marriage at young ages, or joined to escape their reality. What do you do when you are kidnapped and forced to fight a war you know nothing about? Should this child be prosecuted for crimes he or she committed during war times?…

    • 655 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    One article researched about what happens if the children were even to disobey a simple order, much less dry to escape. The article talks about how child soldiers have to follow the orders of their commanders or else they would be severely punished or possibly killed. Child soldiers are often forced to physically punish and kill other soldiers, including the other child soldiers. Anyone accused of desertion or any other crimes is beaten and most likely killed (Coercion and Intimidation of Child Soldiers to Participate in Violence). This provides that if the children were ever caught trying to escape, they would be beaten and killed. By doing this, the commanders instilled this fear in the children, making it impossible for the children to leave that lifestyle because they had it drill so far into their innocent minds that if they disobeyed, they would die. A further piece of evidence that supports that child soldiers should receive amnesty because they could not escape the lifestyle is from a former child soldier. The now grown man requests that he remain anonymous but does go on to state “The reason is for us to know that if we run away later we will get beaten like that too"(Coercion and Intimidation of Child Soldiers to Participate in Violence). The former child soldier goes on to talk about how they formed this horrific punishment…

    • 1604 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    When wars start soldiers are needed. Some people consider soldiers to be criminals because they kill people, but what if that soldier was a child? In many countries when wars start not only the adults are affected, but also the children. In many situations the child’s family is killed by soldiers on the other side. Children often volunteer to join the fighting and become child soldiers. Would that make them criminals or victims? I think that child soldiers are victims of war not war criminals they are often forced to join and threatened if they don’t. Joining the army could be the only way for a child to avoid starvation and being isolated with your family dead and no one to go to the options to survive are very limited.…

    • 455 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Children In War

    • 773 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Due to the extremity many go through and the lack of remorse for their actions many should be tried appropriately for their actions just as Omar Khadir who was mentioned earlier. Just as children who commit diabolical crimes in America, young soldiers should be given the same corporal punishment. In the case of Robert Thompson in England, him and a friend were the first minors to be tried as an adult for the brutal murder of a 2-year-old boy. Many of these criminals, although their age small, can still pursue terrible acts. If all children were given amnesty they would still walk the same streets that you walk, some deemed as…

    • 773 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    For many years now, children have been fighting in wars. Scared, hurt, alone, and in hope of survival, these kids fearlessly fight. Imagine a 13-year-old boy in war. He has just been ripped out of his home and taken to battle the rebels. He is mistreated and has no way to escape this horror. After throwing a bomb, which killed many, he is taken to court, where they are asking if he should be given amnesty. If it was your decision, would you give this boy a second chance at living freely? Or would you put him behind bars for the rest of his life? Many are now asking themselves, should child soldiers be given amnesty or should they be prosecuted? This debate, on the issue of child soldiers, has been going on for a while now. Child soldiers are children in war under the age of 18. This means some…

    • 1886 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays