Child soldiers. An issue in today’s society that often goes unaddressed. Children are being used as soldiers of war. Stealing, killing, raping or being raped, and performing many other heinous acts. Often against their wills. These soldiers have been rescued from their camps, but should they be punished for what they did? Or should they be given protection from consequence? They should, but only under certain circumstances. Child soldiers should only receive amnesty if they are younger than their teens. But even if they are in their teens, they should have access to mental help to help them cope with the after-effects of being a bringer of chaos. But why should they not receive amnesty, no matter the circumstances? Well, children often volunteer to become child soldiers. Although some child soldiers are kidnapped, if they are in their teenage years when captured they could semi-effectively fight back against their kidnappers or attempt to come up with an escape plan. Some child soldiers also had …show more content…
According to Rehabilitating Child Soldiers in the DRC by SOS Children’s Villages (Canada): If child soldiers do not receive the help they can suffer from PTSD, depression and violent behaviors. In order to prevent these past child soldiers from developing or suffering from any of these types of mental health issues, they should have the opportunity to undergo the rehabilitation process. Once they are released, they might have a hard time rejoining the community as they have only been exposed to violence in their past years and have been brainwashed by the leaders of the group they were engaged in. Therefore, past child soldiers would benefit from some type of therapy to help them reintegrate into their communities and to help them deal with or overcome from any sort of mental disorders they may be suffering from being a child