Argumentative Essay: 'Armed And Underage'

“We must not close our eyes to the fact that child soldiers are both victims and perpetrators. But no matter what the child is guilty if the main responsibility lies with us, the adults. There is simply no excuse, no acceptable argument for arming children.” says the Archbishop Desmond Tutu. As the quote states child soldier should not be prosecuted because they were forced into the war, could not get out of the war if they wanted to, and the are not old enough to know any better. Therefore Child soldier should be given Amnesty.

Child Soldiers should be granted Amnesty when they are forced into the war. In the article “Armed and Underage” it states, “Hunger and poverty drive parents to sell their children into service.” Gettleman also expresses

Once recruited the children become brainwashed through the use of drugs and alcohol (Summative Essay, 4). Meaning that when they fight they do not think they are doing anything wrong. “The drugs and alcohol make the children become more compliant enabling them to commit atrocities which they never would have before.” (Summative Essay, 4). This again means that the do not find anything wrong with what they are doing. “The drugs, often cocaine mixed with gunpowder, brainwash the children to the point where they would rather not escape from the horror unraveling around them.” (Summative Essay, 4). This piece of evidence explains how the drugs keep them fight instead of try to escaping when at the the same time giving them a sense of security they lose when the war started. In the end, these children should not be

“Saleh, 17, said he fought with the Free Syrian Army at 15 after he was detained and tortured by government security forces. He later joined Ahrar al-Sham, then left to join the Jund al-Aqsa, an independent Islamist armed group. ‘I thought of leaving --the fighting-- a lot,’ he said. ‘I lost my studies, I lost my future, I lost everything. I looked for work, but there’s no work. This is the most difficult period for me.’” (Maybe We Live, 3). That meaning even if they could leave they would die because there is no place to go or even a place to work at. One the children find a place they deem as safe and where they have a chance of surviving. once they are recruited the children become over reliant on their commanders for shelter, money, water, drugs and alcohol that they find an extreme difficulty to leave (Summative Essay, 4). Therefore, child soldiers should not be prosecuted because they did not leave the