Child soldiers are taken from their families when they are as young as nine years old, and forced to go fight. Imagine walking home from school, and someone comes up to you and tells you that you have to leave your family and go fight. There are many kids who have experienced this. Some people do not understand that children are manipulated and forced by drugs, false promises, and other awful things to kill other children and their families (Child Soldiers- Summative Essay). Horrible people know that kids are ideal for this so they use them as combat. Millions of these kids die,or suffer from serious injuries. These kids are victims.
The issue of child soldiers all comes down to this question; Are child soldiers victims or perpetrators? People have been debating this for years. Some people may say that child soldiers are perpetrators while others believe they are victims. There is evidence for both sides. For example, some say that child soldiers are perpetrators because despite the fact they were forced to fight, they are responsible for some of the most brutal acts in war crime.
One of the main reasons why child soldiers are victims is that the kids are forced to fight. Children as young as 9 are taken from their families (Gettleman). These kids do not choose to do this. These children are manipulated by drugs into killing other innocent kids. What this evidence suggests is that child soldiers do not choose to fight, which makes them victims.
There is a less obvious reason, child soldiers are used as combat because they are kids. Kids are ideal because of many different reasons. One significant reason is kids do not expect to be payed. Kids are also ideal because they are easily manipulated and they don’t complain (Gettleman). This makes it easier for the people forcing them to fight, because they know kids will do what you tell them to do. For example, if you tell a little kid to go do something immature or stupid, they will do it because they don’t know any better. This example is similar to child soldiers because when you tell an innocent little kid to fight, they will do it because again, they don’t know any better, and they have no other choice.
It is important to acknowledge that child soldiers do indeed cause thousands of deaths. One particular child soldier, Khadar, said that the day he planted mines to kill US soldiers was the happiest day of his life (The Child Soldier on Trial at Guantanamo). Although they do these things, they are still victims. They are still forced into combat. They are still used and manipulated. They never choose do what they are doing. This is important to know because there are still over 200,000 kids today being used as combat (Gettleman). So what if you were one of those kids. What if you were the kid walking home from school to get home to find out you are being forced to leave. You are being forced to fight. You would be a victim, and so are they.
The issue of child soldiers all comes down to this question; Are child soldiers victims or perpetrators? People have been debating this for years. Some people may say that child soldiers are perpetrators while others believe they are victims. There is evidence for both sides. For example, some say that child soldiers are perpetrators because despite the fact they were forced to fight, they are responsible for some of the most brutal acts in war crime.
One of the main reasons why child soldiers are victims is that the kids are forced to fight. Children as young as 9 are taken from their families (Gettleman). These kids do not choose to do this. These children are manipulated by drugs into killing other innocent kids. What this evidence suggests is that child soldiers do not choose to fight, which makes them victims.
There is a less obvious reason, child soldiers are used as combat because they are kids. Kids are ideal because of many different reasons. One significant reason is kids do not expect to be payed. Kids are also ideal because they are easily manipulated and they don’t complain (Gettleman). This makes it easier for the people forcing them to fight, because they know kids will do what you tell them to do. For example, if you tell a little kid to go do something immature or stupid, they will do it because they don’t know any better. This example is similar to child soldiers because when you tell an innocent little kid to fight, they will do it because again, they don’t know any better, and they have no other choice.
It is important to acknowledge that child soldiers do indeed cause thousands of deaths. One particular child soldier, Khadar, said that the day he planted mines to kill US soldiers was the happiest day of his life (The Child Soldier on Trial at Guantanamo). Although they do these things, they are still victims. They are still forced into combat. They are still used and manipulated. They never choose do what they are doing. This is important to know because there are still over 200,000 kids today being used as combat (Gettleman). So what if you were one of those kids. What if you were the kid walking home from school to get home to find out you are being forced to leave. You are being forced to fight. You would be a victim, and so are they.