Lost Innocence Contrary to popular thinking, child soldiers are not always as innocent as they seem. In fact, a large number of child soldiers escape their crimes because of the belief that they are victims when frequently they are the perpetrator in this detailed situation. In fact, Many child soldiers quickly adapt to the unhealthy lifestyle, are not held accountable, and fail to resist, yet they are dangerously and wrongfully allowed to be released into society. One main reason that child soldiers are not as innocent as they seem would be how quickly they adapt to the unhealthy lifestyle. In one article, the author describes how fast the children’s innocence is lost and how children accept the style of brutality. To put it simply, …show more content…
An insightful author states that “Stolen kids turned into terrifying killers,” child soldiers without punishment have the potential to grow up to become a generation of killers (O’Neill). This shows how obvious the need to hold child soldiers accountable for their actions really is, and why the adults in this situation need to be held accountable so actions like this do not happen again. In addition, a second article elaborates on this idea. In the article, she states that “child soldiers are both victims and perpetrators” (Leahy). With this in mind, it is important to state how child soldiers that seem innocent can have worrying truths. While it is true that the children are forced into combat, they also need to be punished in order for them to function as a …show more content…
Certain authors often slip convincing language into the articles in an attempt to sway the reader into believing that the children deserve amnesty. For instance, the author of an insightful paper describes the recruiting adults as warlords, and describes the children as captive prisoners (Should Child Soldiers Be Prosecuted?). However, the articles disregards the fact that many children seek revenge, and are not recruited, but join on their own will. In another article, the author writes It can be noted that the author deliberately attempts to distract the reader from the wrongfulness of the children by mentioning the wrongfulness of the recruiting adults. Additionally, while the adults should be held accountable for their crimes, the actions of children cannot be