Child Soldiers

This refers to the use of children under the age of 18 in any military capacity that they can be helpful in. When people think of this they normally think of children fighting in battles, but they can be used in a variety of other ways also, from messengers to human shields. The leaders of these groups often take steps to desensitize these kids to move them towards fighting faster. This is most often done by forcing them to kill another person very early, but it does depend on the group. Contrary to popular opinion, this is not just a young male issue either. Estimates claim that up to 30% of those involved are girls. Unfortunately these girls have added issues to worry about when it comes to how they are treated. Those who fight are also given drugs to make it easier for them to carry out these acts.

Children are chosen for these missions for a number of reasons, the most clear of which is that they are more easily manipulated than adults are. Other issues include the overpopulation of many areas as well as the technology of automatic weapons and how easy they are to use. It is also helpful (for those recruiting them) that there aren’t a ton of other options in these countries in terms of making money. So young people feel like they have no other choice but to join to make money with the hopes of getting out soon. Lastly, young people are more willing to fight for issues that aren’t rooted in money. They are much more likely to fight for their religion or for some sort of revenge than adults are.

No one really knows how much this happens, so giving clear estimates for the number of people participating in this is difficult. Many people estimate that there are upwards of 100,000 child soldiers fighting in the world currently, and that it is possible that they are fighting in 75% of the conflicts on earth right now. Most claim that up to 40% of these soldiers are found in Africa, which is dealing with a ton of violence currently. What is interesting to think about is that this is far from a new phenomenon. In fact there were thousands of children that were used to help in both of the World Wars.

As you might expect, survivors of these roles often suffer serious mental illness and PTSD as well as a handful of other issues after leaving these groups. Due to this and the age that they are recruited, countries are 

extremely divided on whether or not these children should be prosecuted for war crimes they committed while in these groups. Since they were manipulated into these actions, many people believe they should not be held responsible. Many places choose not to charge them for these acts unless they continued to do them after the age of 18.