2. Introduction Mostly in Africa, but still all over the world, child soldiers are being recruited more and more. The demands for child soldiers in some countries are very high.There is really no option for these kids. They are taken advantage of and sometimes tortured or killed for not following orders. Most are captured from their homes and forced to fight. Why is there such a high demand for them?
3. Looking for Safety Many kids who’s family or parents have been killed or tortured, leave their home looking for safety. Most turn to the military. They believe that they can get safety from the army, but the truth is, is that they really do not know what they are in for.
4. Countries who participate Currently in the world there are more than 30 countries that participate in the practice of child soldiers. 87% of those countries have seen child soldiers deployed, 71% of those children are under the age of 15.
5. Life Out of the Army Many child soldiers stay with the force and fight their whole life, however long their life may be. Some children run away and make it out safely, but they are not in safety for long.
6. Many former child soldiers team up to form a gang, than steal and rob for a living. The reason for this is because they have no smarts or social skills for a job, all they know how to do is shoot a gun.
7. One child said, "At 12 and 13 my whole family was killed. Because of this I went to military bases looking for safety, that made me be a soldier." If they couldn't take the distress any more in the army a lot of kids would team up and make a break for it. It is a survival of the fittest for them, the ones that make it, make it, but the ones who don't, die.”
8. Statistics Currently in the world today there are more than 300,000 child soldiers. All of which are under 18 years of age and some which are even younger than 7. All different kinds of religions, both sexes and it really doesn’t matter how old they may be, fight in more than 50 different countries at this moment. But, the majority of the child soldiers that exist today are in Africa fighting in the longest civil war of its history.
9. Ishmael’s Story Ishmael Beah was once a child soldier, but was rescued. This is what he had to say. “There was a strong sense of distress for all the young people and children because they were getting recruited into a very violent war. At 12 my family was killed, mother and father. I didn’t know what to do after that, so I looked for safety and went into the military, than I was a real soldier. In the war I was taught how to use an AK-47, and after that most people just went and fought. Most died too, because they didn't know what they were doing. We were fed drugs to keep our minds on the war, and we watched people die in front of us so we would stay in the madness. One day there was a person from UNICEF that came and spoke to the commander, he must have been really convincing because the commander let a few children go at a time. I was not happy about this because it felt like leaving my family again, but after a while I could tell that this new world was a better place for me.”
10. Ishmael Beah Ishmael Beah, as a child soldier. Ishmael Beah, after being rescued, now living in the States.
11. My Opinion To me this practice is foolish and cruel. I personally think they should stop. Taking kids who are underage and throwing them in a war with a gun that could potentially be heavier than them is just dumb. That’s not even all of it; some soldiers take girls and make them be their wives or sex slaves. For now there are many people who protest the use of child soldiers, and a lot of the soldiers are saved because of this effort. But, for every one saved there is another one that goes into the trouble. It doesn’t look like this is going to end any time soon, but the more help the better.
