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Argumentative Essay On Child Soldiers

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Imagine being a 9 year old boy in Africa, living peacefully in your small hometown village. You lived your everyday life as a normal, fun, and loving child. However, this won’t last long. An army will soon sweep through your poor desert town, collecting all the little boys they can find to turn them into killing machines. This is the early reality for many child soldier victims all over the world. Desperate armies need new soldiers for their battles, and when they begin running out, they kidnap children. These poor, unknowing, and victimized children are forced to join into wars they have no connection to as soldiers. These child soldiers exist in awful conditions under the command of their armies, are kidnapped and purchased like slaves, …show more content…

“Kill or be killed” is what they are told by army commanders. These few words are ingrained into child soldiers' minds, so that they may never think of escaping the army they were forced into. Some child soldiers are even willing to kill each other upon discovering an attempted escape. That’s how much armies have brainwashed these poor children. According to the article “Child Soldiers: Victims or Perpetrators?” thousands of children are abducted by armies and forced to kill every year. This shocking news demonstrates the enormity of issues such as child soldier kidnapping and killing. If they refuse, the children are shot on sight. This illustrates the determination of armies to keep child soldiers under control with violence. Some armies will even reward child soldiers for killing an attempted escapee with a little extra food. This is just one of many factors that motivate child soldiers to kill. Therefore, by being forced to kill innocent people and commit other horrible crimes, child soldiers are established as …show more content…

The article “Child Soldiers Should be Prosecuted” found on Debatewise.org reminds us that many children have claimed to have volunteered to become soldiers to obtain necessities for themselves such as food, clothes, or money. It is important to acknowledge that some of these children were understanding of what volunteering for the army meant, and decided to join anyway. However, It is my position that many child soldiers are victims because not all of them can be held morally responsible for their crimes. To keep kids brainwashed and fighting, armies feed them drugs and alcohol. Consequently, child soldiers forget their moral feelings of right and wrong and soon become killing monsters. Articles such as “Armed and Underage” by Jeffery Gettleman tell us that many ex-child soldiers had reported to having a sense of numbness to their crimes because of the drugs and brainwashing. This shows us some of the aftereffects armies had on their child soldiers. Therefore, child soldiers are victims of the horrible things that happened to them while under the command of their

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