Child Soldiers Argumentative Essay

Words: 846
Pages: 4

― Ishmael Beah
The quote from Beah a former child soldier, speaks of the ideologies in which a child soldier is forced to adopt as a member of their military. Child soldiers, an international point of controversy, are young children who have been conscripted into a violent life of military service(onlinedigitalpubs). There is an estimated 200,000 active child soldiers in the world currently, and each have witnessed unfathomable atrocities, and/or committed them(onlinedigitalpubs). When these, “soldiers” are captured on the field of battle, some may be charged with war crimes. This raises the question, “Should child soldiers be incarcerated as perpetrators, or rehabilitated as victims of unjust recruitment and servitude?” When looking at the evidence from their recruitment, it is clear that these children should be granted amnesty and treated as victims, however, more chilling than their recruitment stories are the tales the children's actions within wars. The children wield automatic weapons, plant mines, spy, and in some cases, act as suicide
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In Charles’ description of an operation held in Africa, he and his guerrilla group sabotaged a village, not far from his own, and was ordered to loot and kill civilians in the village. Accompanied by a superior, he was supervised as he killed three of four civilians hiding in their home. His leader killed the father brutally with a machete, and Charles followed suit, “hacking” as he put it, the necks and chests of the wife and two young children, one of which who begged him to be spared, but found no such agreement. He was twelve years old at the time(ijmonitor). This case, a dark and morbid one be it, is also a prime example of why child soldiers deserve no reprieve for their actions. Unfortunately, this is only one example of the war crimes committed by child