Assignment page Video Where many children all over the world merrily and freely live under the protection of the law, for others, this is a distant reality, they live in a world where they’re battling poverty, stripped of their childhood and basic human rights are expunged, they’re the innocent victims of conflict, and war is made to seem their one and only duty, not to mention that these are children no more than 10 years of age. They are put into a situation where it’s to kill or be killed. The United Nations defines a child soldier as, “Any person under 18 years of age who is part of any kind of regular or irregular armed force or armed group in any capacity.” Since the past 15 years, child soldiers are being used in almost every region of the world. Unlike most children, who go to school, they’re abducted from their families and forced into becoming a child soldier, where living conditions are beyond imaginable.
An unhealthy obsession with guns, being drugged to make killings seem normal, and being undoubtedly loyal to commanders is only part of what a child soldier is. Child soldiers can be dangerous and make up many armies in war-torn countries. In much of the world, usually in unstable countries, when conflict breaks out, children can quickly be swept up and put on the front lines to fight. Children may carry ten-pound guns and use bullets twice the size of their fingers. Some children are old enough to understand what they are doing, and others have no idea. When these children use their weapons, others are killed, and these children can get prosecuted. Child soldiers should be given amnesty because they are not fully responsible for their actions, they join without fully knowing what they are doing and for reasons other than wanting to fight, and they should be rehabilitated instead of being prosecuted.
Have you ever mentioned the subject of child soldiers in a standard conversation? Most likely not. Child soldiers are not an everyday discussion topic, but recently they have grown more and more popular. While in the past, “children were not particularly effective as front-line fighters since most of the lethal hardware was too heavy and cumbersome for them to manipulate” (unicef.org), weapons have become lighter, and younger infantries have followed suit. While childhoods usually don’t consist of shooting people, taking villages, and other awful acts of war, they can, and this physiologically impacts a child. However, although the acts that child soldiers carry out may be horrific, they can still be forgiven and the children can be reconciled.
Many young children under aged have been taken in by the government. They are being held captive tell they are drugged enough and brainwashed to go out and kill or to be killed. They are forced to train to kill under the influence of drugs and they are hardly aware of what they or doing. Child soldiers should be given amnesty because of the absents of their minds and them not being able to process what they are doing. These children are often seen as targets because they are under aged and not able to take responsibility for their actions so they are targeted to be able to kill without punishment. Although many have confessed to these crimes and have been given amnesty even though they knew they were doing the crimes, but they were let off the hook due to drugs. With these drugs many are not aware of what they do and they weren't in the state of mind to make such decisions like not killing others.
As long as former child soldiers show that they will not recommit their acts of violence, they should be granted amnesty. Child soldiers are often forced into being violent. They shouldn’t be held responsible for things that they were essentially forced to do. Although there is plenty of evidence showing that child soldiers should be given amnesty, some may argue the opposite. People may say that they could sacrifice their own lives instead of killing others, but that is too much to expect of kids. These child soldiers are also usually brainwashed and forced to take drugs before committing violence. If child soldiers are “fixed,” they shouldn’t be punished or judged because of their acts as a child soldier.
Have you ever thought about the long-lasting argument over whether child soldiers should be given amnesty? Well there is no definite answer and in many ways is a complicated argument. To begin with, child soldiers are kids that are usually forced to join armed forces and commit violence to people all around them through false promises and poverty. In many cases, once they join, its almost impossible to change their mind and leave because they immediately get brainwashed through drugs and alcohol. From there, the kids learn how to kill and then all of the violence starts to happen to those around them. Others argue that child soldiers are dangerous and without doubt should not be given amnesty, however, child soldiers should be given amnesty because they are forced to join through false promises and poverty, get brainwashed with drugs and alcohol, and are usually too young to understand what they are being involved in.
There are thousands of child soldiers in the world today. These children are stripped from their homes and sent to fight with people twice their age. Many haven’t even had their 11th birthday yet. Although some people say that child soldiers should not be granted amnesty, evidence shows that these children do deserve amnesty, except in cases when the former soldiers show violent behavior after war because children are forced to commit acts of violence and are force addicted to illegal substances so they won’t want to leave.
Have you ever imagined growing up on a life of drugs, war, crime, and seeing things that many adults won’t dare to ever see? In many countries around the world, this is what many children have to deal with. There is an occurring issue of people across Africa and parts of Asia using children as soldiers in war. They act and take upon the roles of real combatants, causing the people of the public to act in different ways. It’s been well documented that these children have used guns and war tactics, and committed various illegal and illicit acts of violence. However, what they’ve done doesn 't come with the fact that child soldiers live with rugged conditions, drugs, the influence of others. Even though some people believe that child soldier’s shouldn’t be given amnesty, overall, it becomes clear that these children should be given amnesty because many adults influence their actions, they live in inferior conditions, and children who enlist as child soldiers enlist for multiple reasons other than violence.
In high school, I read A Long Way Gone from that reading it made me start appreciating my life even more. During my reading, I came to discover that the child soldiers did not have a typical childhood like the children nowadays. As a child soldier, their lives were taken from them at a very young age like between the years of six to eighteen years old. Imagine being that young being forced to give up your family and childhood to become a child soldier to kill and to commit other acts of violence. Because of the child soldiering the children saw different things that children should not be able to see like, piles of dead bodies, and large amount of blood.
In most cases the group leaders only want strong soldiers who follow all commands and don’t hesitate to kill a person. If a child refuses to kill, the leaders could torture them for as long as they desire. The Child Soldiers cooperating with the leaders and doing what they are told to do will put them on their good side and won’t put their lives at stake. Doing what they’re suppose to do and showing how they’re not
Many child soldiers had gone through traumatizing events, but should be given amnesty. Child Soldiers have been the cause of the death of innocent people. They were put up to do that job and went through with it without question. Many people believe that child soldiers should not be given amnesty, but others think they should be forgiven. They did not choose to kill people, most were forced, drugged, and tortured into doing it. Even though there are people that believe child soldiers should be forgiven, others think different. These child soldiers had knew exactly what they were doing, but not even question the idea. There are many child soldiers that have gone through horrible things, but should not be forgiven.
A child, not any older than 13, walks through the remains of a city. With an AK-47 in his hands and cocaine in his system, he is alert and ready to do what he has to in order to survive. As he walks through the gravel and sees civilians crying on the ground, he remembers his family, his friends, and his other lost loved ones. This child grows sad yet angry at the same time--he wants vengeance. The next thing he knows his commander is standing at his side giving him one simple order: kill.
In an excerpt form an article by Michael Karwowski he explains the severe tolls of being a child soldier. “Too often, a [circumstance] of [betrayal] in their brutal new environment is that child soldiers exhibit a willingness to turn against their own community in a way that ensures their summary execution or lengthy imprisonment for war crimes if they then attempt to return. As a result, most child soldiers are like
Today there are thousands of child soldiers around the world. In these conflicts they are not only as a soldier but they are also used as suicide bombers for religion causes, spies, lookout and many more tasks where children are
Also, according to the Invisible Children Association, “...child soldiers are often forced into fighting through false promises. They are also forced into fighting through drugs and alcohol.” This shows how they are forced and they think what they are doing is okay because they are brainwashed. These children are being misled and sometimes threatened to commit horrible acts, that they wouldn’t do if they knew what was happening. But these children were never taught what is right and wrong.