Did you know, there are children who have never played in a park or played a video game? These children are called child soldiers. A child soldier is someone under the age of 18 that is used in war times as combatants, cooks, bombers, messengers, spies, and human shields. For years children have been recruited to join militaries and government groups in several countries across the world. These countries include Uganda, Myanmar, Iraq, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Yemen, Colombia, Nigeria, and the Philippines. Despite the fact that some people believe that child soldiers should not be given amnesty, I strongly believe that child soldiers should be given amnesty because they have been brainwashed, forced into the military, and children are too young to fully understand their actions. Child soldiers should be given amnesty because they have been brainwashed. Children are young and can be vulnerable to new people and ideas. According to a summative essay, “More often than not, children have no say in whether …show more content…
The Time article states, “...so many of the Ugandan children abducted near their homes and schools...” (Laura Blue and Jonathan Woodward).This is important because this shows that children are being taken by other soldiers who want to manipulate the children for their military purposes. Also, children who have been apprehended at their schools are being taken without the parents knowledge. Once again, a summative article stated , “After being caught in the center of a vicious civil war in Sierra Leone, Ishmael was forced to become a child soldier” (Invisible Children).This proves that there may be people part of government and military groups who will pick up children wherever they notice them and make them become a child soldier. Therefore, child soldiers should be given amnesty because children have been forced into joining the