Persuasive Essay On Child Soldiers In The United States

In 2010, there were over 200,000 children fighting in wars. 20% of those kids, were a part of government groups. After the war, the government turned around and said those kids need to be prosecuted. How would you feel if you were forced to fight and traumatized for life, then have to go on trial for something you never wanted to do in the first place? According to the United Nations along with other human rights groups, a child soldier is considered a child who is 18 years or younger fighting on the front line (Child Recruitment pg.1). Child soldiers are found all over the world except for North America. If these children ever get out of war, some may have to get prosecuted for the things they did while completely brainwashed. That is unfair considering most were forced into this terrible matter. Once the child soldiers get out of the situation they are in, they should be sent to rehabilitation centers to
For instance, murderers, robbers, and people that deserve to be put on trial for something horrible they have done. Child soldiers should not be part of that list of people to be put on trial. They are children who have usually can’t comprehend what they just did. According to the University of Rochester Medical Center, kids and teens brains don’t fully develop until the age 25. After that age, your prefrontal cortex is fully developed and that is what helps adults make smart decisions and know when something has a long time consequence. Kids however, process information like going into war as a child with the amygdala, the emotional part of your brain (Holloway pg. 1). Unless there is evidence which normally there isn’t for a child soldier's case, all the decisions they made were emotional decisions. Those were then comprised with drugs and alcohol from the commander who the kids saw as a father figure because they had no one else. These kids did what they did with no intention to hurt or kill