Child Soldiers In Today's War
“The Perfect Weapon for the Meanest Wars’’ is an article by Jeffrey Gettleman from the New York Times on the subject of child soldiers. All over Africa militias are fighting each other for control over certain areas. These militias have deployed four foot tall killing machine that terrorize, loot, and destroy village after village these weapons: child soldiers. Mozambicans have learned that children were the perfect weapon since they were easily manipulated, intensely loyal, fearless and most important in endless supply. There are 300,000 child soldiers worldwide experts say that the nature of the conflict changes especially in Africa.
This literary piece “The Making and Unmaking of a child soldier” by Ishmael Beah, unravels aspects of the world often looked over. The book opens an eye on how child soldiers are used as spawn for civil wars for ruthless warlords over drug empires in Sierra Leone. Children are forced to become soldiers to serve for military and save their country, Sierra Leone. Child soldiers are also forced to work and there are many different jobs which are given to child soldiers.
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
Ishmael Beah’s novel provides the historian with highly explicit illustrations of child soldier initiated violence. In a general sense, forcing children to commit war crimes was done for educational purposes. It was thought by factional and military leaders that juveniles would immediately become more accustom to death if they spilt the blood of a defenceless man. Beah explains how he “practiced killing the prisoners the way the Lieutenant had done it”. He asserts that “the person whose prisoner died the quickest would win the contest”.
There is a problem in the world and something needs to be done of it. There are children, primarily in Africa, that are forced to massacre innocent men and women. These kids are called child soldiers. Child soldiers are kids who are associated in war. A popular book about child soldier is an autobiography by Ishmael Beah called A Long Way Gone.
Often referred to as “child soldiers,” these boys and girls suffer extensive forms of exploitation and abuse that are not fully captured by that term”
The definition of a child solider is any child under the age of 18 recruited by a state or non-state armed group and used as fighters, cooks, suicide bombers, and human shields among other things. However regardless of what role the child plays, it is a clear violation of the fourth and twenty-sixth articles. The fourth states that there shall be no slavery of any person while the twenty-sixth protects the right of people (specifically children in this case) to get an education. The former applies to child soldiers as most of them are press ganged into joining and are then treated horribly. In the book When Elephants Fight by Eric Walters and Adrian Bradbury goes into detail about the reality of child soldiers in western Africa.
Most are younger than fifteen and do not know what they are getting themselves into. In the article, “Should Child Soldiers be Prosecuted for Their Crimes?” by Johannesburg, it states “Children are often desired as recruits because they can be easily intimidated and indoctrinated. They lack the mental maturity and judgment to express consent or to fully understand the implications of their actions… and are pushed by their adult commanders into perpetrating atrocities,” the report said. This quote shows us why so many armies are recruiting children to fight.
Woman - “an adult female person” (Dictionary) People usually think women should wear dresses, cook food, or do laundry and stay inside, but in reality not all women are like that. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, one of the main characters, Scout, doesn’t wear dresses or heels, she is more masculine. Scouts family, consisting of Jem, Atticus, and Calpurnia, are not racist though everyone else is. At the end of the book, characters realize to understand different peoples perspectives and to walk in others shoes before judging.
In the article Should Child Soldiers be Prosecuted For Their Crimes it says,“if a child is under the age of 15 is considered too young to fight then he or she must be considered too young to be held criminally responsible for serious violations.” This explains how that they are easily manipulated and targeted because they aren't legally responsible to take responsibility for their actions. Each child were held in hostilities and couldn't have to opportunity to not fight. Also in Should Child Soldiers be Prosecuted For Their Crimes a report within the article it says, “ The report says child soldiers should not be prosecuted simply for the association with an armed group of having participation in hostilities.” Children are targeted to be recruited to war because nobody can take responsibility for the
In the beautiful land where elves, hobbits and other mythical creatures roam the fascinating lands of Middle-earth, lives a kind-hearted hobbit named Frodo Baggins. From the mind of J. R. R. Tolkien comes The Lord of the Rings, a story about a powerful ring and how the main protagonist, Frodo, will destroy in Mount Doom. The long journey is both mentally and physically straining as Frodo comes across many difficulties along the way while the ring slowly corrupts his mind. By the end of the series the ring is destroyed but Frodo does not head back home because of how much he changed. Frodo Baggins is hero because he saves many people by destroying the ring, despite that Frodo is not a confident character, but this is a minor flaw that can be easily overlooked.
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.
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.
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.
In the world today, there is more than 25 countries who still actively use children in warfare. Child soldiers are human beings under the age of 18 who participate in military actions. They are evidently cheaper to maintain and to train than adult soldiers. They are also more loyal and obedient because the young respect their elders. It has been noted that estimately, 300 thousand children were recruited to fight and perform in war (Child Soldiers.)
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