KrislynnDickerson

Ms.Robillard
LA8Hour3
12March2015
ChildSoldiers

Imaginesomeoneteachingyourchildhowtobeheadsomething,thentellingyoutodragit
aroundtokeepthebadspiritsaway.SomecountriessuchasAfrica,havebeenusingchild
soldiers.Childsoldiersarechildrenwhojointhemilitaryatayoungageandareforcedtofight
inwar.Itshouldbeillegaltohavechildsoldiers,Itoccursallovertheworld.

SomeAfricanculturesusechildrentohelpbuildtheirarmybecausetheyareeasiertotrain,but
theirwholelivesarefocusedontrainingandgoingtowarratherthanbeingakid.Likeaboy
namedIshmaelBech.Bechwaskidnappedandforcedtojoinanarmy,makingithardtoescape.
Hehadtobeinoneofthemostbrutalwarsinhishistoryknownasthecivilwarwhichtook
placeinAfrica.

Itshouldbeillegaltohavechildsoldiersbecausechildrenarenotbuilt,emotionallyor
physically,tofightinwars.OntheweeblywebsitefromanarticlecalledChildsoldiersandwhy
theirusedsaid,childrencanadapttonewlifeatwar.Consideringchildrenjoinatayoungage
theywouldthinknothingofit.Nottomentiontheleaderstellthechildsoldiersthatitsokto
kill.Itskillorbekilled.Ifthechildsoldiersdontkillthey'retoldthey'renotaman.Another
reasonwhyisbecausechildrenarecheaperduetolessfood,lowerlivingconditions.Children

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aresmallerwhichmeanstheywouldntneedasmuchfoodasanadultwould.Alsomostoftheir
parentsdiewhichmeanstheyfeelluckytohaveshelternomatterwhat.Aslongastheyhave
food,water,andsheltertheyhaveenoughtomakeitoutalive.Thelastthingitmentionedwas
thatwheninalifeordeathsituation,ifitiskillorbekilled,thechildrenwillnotbeafraidtokill.
LikeIsaidsincethechildrenwerechildsoldierseversincetheywereyoungsotheythink
nothingofkillingtheythinkitsok.Theyrealsonotafraidtokillbecausethatjustmeansthey
donthavetobekilled.Aslongastheystayalivetheyarehappy.

Mysecondpointonwhychildsoldiersshouldbeillegalbecauseitruinstheminsideandout.
Childsoldiersarebeingheldasvictims.OnNewyorktimes.comfromanArticlecalledthe
making,andtheunmaking,ofachildsoldierbyIshmaelBechsaidthatthechildsoldiersare
abductedfromtheirfamilies.Theirleadersdothisbecauseiftheyhadtheirfamiliesaround
duringtrainingorwartheywouldntbeabletofocus.Alsobecausethepeopleinchargeofthe
childrenwouldntwanttheirparentstohoveroverthemortryandstopthemfromgoinginto
war.LastlyMostimportantlytheleaderwouldntwanttheirparentstotakethemandescape.
Thiswasaswellmentionedthatthechildsoldiersaredrugged.Thisismainlybecausetheydont
wantthechildsoldierstorememberwar.Alsosotheyfocusonkillingorgettingreadyforwar
ratherthanthinkingaboutwhattheydid.Thedrugscontroltheirmindwhichmeanstheycanget
themtodowhatevertheywantthemtodo.Lastbutnotleastitsaidwasthatitturnsoutthatthe
childsoldiersareforcedtoparticipateinstufftheydontreallywantto.Suchaswar.Theydo
thisbecausetheyhavenooneelsetodoitforthem.Mostoftheadultspassedawayinwar.So

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theywereleftwithchildren.Alotofchildren,sotheythoughtwellwehavemorekidsthan
adultssowecouldusekids.Italsomeanslessworkforthesargent.

Mylastpointwhychildsoldiersshouldntbeallowedisbecausetheirnotthesameanymore.
Evenmoreimportantlychildsoldiersarebeingtaughtbadstuff.Fromawebsitecalled
Newyorktimes.comfromanarticlecalledThemaking,andtheunmaking,ofachildsoldierby
IshmaelBechstatesthatChildsoldiersareharmingpeople.Theyarehurtingpeoplebecause
thatswhattheyaresupposedtodoortoldtodo.Inthiskindofsituationtheydontreallyhavea
choicebecausetheirsergeantswilleithertorturethemorkillthem.Itsnottheirfaultthey'rejust
tryingtoprotectthemselvesandtheonesaroundthem.Onanotherwebsitecalledsbs.comfrom
anarticlecalledMylifeasachildsoldierbyNadiaDalystatesthatchildrenarebeingtaughtto
useexplosivesandgunssuchasA.K47s.Theyteachthemhowtouseexplosivesandguns
becausetheywanttoteachthemhowtofightinwar.Alsosotheycomebackwithmorechildren
thanless.Becausethemorechildrenyouhavethelessthathastobereplacedorkidnapped.Last
istheunicef.orgwebsitefromanarticlecalledadultwars,andchildsoldiersTheyteachchild
soldiershowtorapeolderwoman.Theydothisbecausetheywantthemtohaveanexperience
beforetheydie.Butyettheyhavetobestuckwiththeseregretfulthingstheydidtowomenif
theydontdie.Yettheysaytheyhavea50%chanceforsurvivinganda50%chancefordeath.

Inconclusionitshouldbeillegaltohavechildsoldiers.Theyusethemforhorriblethingsand
reasons,theyusethemastheirvictims,andtheyteachthemhorriblestufftodoandtrythatcould
leavethemwithregretfortherestoftheirlives.Thisisanimportantthingtoknowabout

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becauseitsleavingchildrenwithregret,torture,andunsatisfiedthings.Itsalsoleavingfamilies
aliveinpainandnolongerwantingtheirkidsbecausewhenoriftheycomebacktheywontbe
thesametheywillbeworse.Thinkofitthisway,youwakeupinthemorningscaredtoevenbe
awake.Youarescaredthatsomethingbadwillhappentoyou.Yourfamilyisnottheirtohelp
becausetheyareeithergoneordead.Butyoucantdoanythingaboutitbecauseifyoutryto
escapeyouwillbeshot.Youalsohavetowakeupeverymorninghavingpeoplespitinyourface
andbebeatenfornogoodreason.Wouldntyouwanttohelpsomeonelikethisorwouldyou
wanttowatchthemsuffer?Youretheonlyonewhocanmakeachange.Yourchangeswillbe
thedifferencetoourworld.

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CITATIONS

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2011/06/21/mylifechildsoldiersudan
http://www.unicef.org/eapro/AdultWarsChildSoldiers.pdf
http://stoptheuseofchildsoldiers.weebly.com/whyarechildsoldiersused.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/14/magazine/14soldier.t.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&

Daly,Nadia."MyLifeasaChildSoldierinSudan."
News
.NadiaDaly,21June2011.Web.11
Mar.2015.
Unicef.
AdultWars,ChildSoldiers
(n.d.):n.pag.Web.
"WhyAreChildSoldiersUsed?"
ChildSoldiers
.N.p.,n.d.Web.11Mar.2015.
Beah,Ishmael."TheMaking,andUnmaking,ofaChildSoldier."
TheNewYorkTimes
.The
NewYorkTimes,13Jan.2007.Web.11Mar.2015.