"Child soldiers are any children under the age of 18 who are recruited by a state or non-state armed group and used as fighters, cooks, suicide bombers, human shields, messengers, spies, or for sexual purposes" ( 11 facts about child soldiers). As of 2011, a few places that use child soldiers are Afghanistan, Colombia, India, Iraq, Israel, Libya, Mali, Pakistan, Thailand, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen ( 11 facts about child soldiers ).Three hundred thousand kids under the age of 18 serve as soldiers all over the world. Even though the majority are guys, around 40% of child soldiers are girls (the truth about child soldiers ). Being in a war causes many serious side effects.
Child solders have been used for quite some time. As of 1988, 200,000 kids were used as soldiers by the end of the century the number rose 100,000( child soldiers, global).Since our technology is developing, it makes guns lighter making it easier for kids to be soldiers. Being a child soldier causes many issues down the line, such as an undeveloped spine from carrying heavy guns, illness and infection from not eating well and being exposed to the weather. Since many children are used as sex slaves, they will often become pregnant and have sexually transmitted diseases. Being a child soldier can cause a child to become a thoughtless murderer because they are forces into being a killer before their moral values part of their brain is fully developed.
Children have served in wars since ancient Greece. The Greek military training began at 7 years old. They spent most of their lives in the military. This is followed by the African cultures where the boys started military service at the age of six, they served as apprentices. As the children grew they took on more responsibility until they replaced the adult soldiers. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, child soldiers served in the Royal Navy and prepared the cannons on the boat to fire at enemy ships. They also worked as servants to the adult soldiers and were still apart of military strategies. In the civil war, both sides unlisted children. Even though adult consent it required some kids would run away to serve,some, even as young as 10 years old.
Recently, a new release of child soldiers happened, bring there total of released children to 1,300 since January. They received 250 child soldiers this round four of them are girls some as young as nine. They are expecting another 400 to be released by the 25th of March, they are released distant villages where they are given food, clothes and shelter. After the children are released they want to put them back to their old communities.
Children are used in battles for many reasons they require less money, are easily controlled, don't understand risks, and they can withstand harsher living conditions. When the children enter the service they are toughened up by forcing them to watch murders, rapes, and tortures. They are even forced to kill members of their family/community to keep them from running back to them. The children are also forced to take drugs to make them more easy to control, decrease fear, and increase their courage. Girls are also raped and are given STD's and become impregnated. They also are forced into marrying the commanders.
Child solders have been used for quite some time. As of 1988, 200,000 kids were used as soldiers by the end of the century the number rose 100,000( child soldiers, global).Since our technology is developing, it makes guns lighter making it easier for kids to be soldiers. Being a child soldier causes many issues down the line, such as an undeveloped spine from carrying heavy guns, illness and infection from not eating well and being exposed to the weather. Since many children are used as sex slaves, they will often become pregnant and have sexually transmitted diseases. Being a child soldier can cause a child to become a thoughtless murderer because they are forces into being a killer before their moral values part of their brain is fully developed.
Children have served in wars since ancient Greece. The Greek military training began at 7 years old. They spent most of their lives in the military. This is followed by the African cultures where the boys started military service at the age of six, they served as apprentices. As the children grew they took on more responsibility until they replaced the adult soldiers. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, child soldiers served in the Royal Navy and prepared the cannons on the boat to fire at enemy ships. They also worked as servants to the adult soldiers and were still apart of military strategies. In the civil war, both sides unlisted children. Even though adult consent it required some kids would run away to serve,some, even as young as 10 years old.
Recently, a new release of child soldiers happened, bring there total of released children to 1,300 since January. They received 250 child soldiers this round four of them are girls some as young as nine. They are expecting another 400 to be released by the 25th of March, they are released distant villages where they are given food, clothes and shelter. After the children are released they want to put them back to their old communities.
Children are used in battles for many reasons they require less money, are easily controlled, don't understand risks, and they can withstand harsher living conditions. When the children enter the service they are toughened up by forcing them to watch murders, rapes, and tortures. They are even forced to kill members of their family/community to keep them from running back to them. The children are also forced to take drugs to make them more easy to control, decrease fear, and increase their courage. Girls are also raped and are given STD's and become impregnated. They also are forced into marrying the commanders.
~Once the children become soldiers they are treated in very different ways, some are drugged, brainwashed or even abused. Some react differently on the battle field some don't kill, some do kill to survive, and some kill to be the best.
~Children are enlisted for many reasons some want to join so they run away from their families, others are forced to join by their families.
~Kids that come back from being soldiers are often outcasted by their communities, because they are not properly educated, they don't know how to act "normal", and some girls are outcasted because they have a child because they were raped.
~The recent events caused debate over how a child soldier would be in court, they wondered if a citizen was killed, raped or tortured by a child soldier should the solider be tried for these actions or would the family just be out of luck.
~Also they are debating on whether a trained adult soldier are able to fight a child solider. As time goes on they are making new laws to protect the kids and what they do, but they also have to factor in self defense of the adult soldiers and other citizens.