Child soldiers are boys and girls under 18 who are forced to fight in armed groups. Over 100,000 children in Africa, mostly Uganda and Sudan, have been abducted and made to serve as child soldiers. Commanders keep children as soldiers because they are seen as cheaper alternatives to adults, as they require less food, medical care, and are more predictable. Child soldiers live in army barracks and are forced to perform dangerous duties like combat, laying mines, cooking, and some girls become victims of sexual exploitation. Their experiences take a severe physical and mental toll, leaving many with missing limbs or deep psychological trauma from threats and violence. Educating oneself on the issue of child soldiers through programs and videos can help bring

1. Child Soldiers
Your eyes may be open but do you see and are you aware of all the children made into
child soldiers? Highly likely not, because I bet you have always been to busy doing other
things; like playing on your computer, watching TV or texting a friend, to be even aware of
anything but yourself. So ask yourself this, do you really know what child soldiers are? Well
if you do not know what they are that is okay, because I too did not really know what a child
soldier really was, but doing this essay has given me some brief information about child
soldiers. This essay will tell you a variety of things like the physical and mental conditions of
a child soldier, what kind of life they are put through and my essay will also answer the
questions “What is a child soldier?”. I wrote about the topic “Child Soldiers” because I think
we need to be aware about how innocent children are made into mindless killing machines
by people that have abducted them. By participating in programs that help child soldiers and
by watching videos on the subject child soldiers can help you take another step into
bringing awareness not to only you, but maybe even to your community.
We should be aware of all the child soldiers being made. But first let’s start off with the basic
definition of a child soldier. According to UNICEF a child soldier is a either a boy or a girl
who is under the age of 18 years-old, but is still forced into fighting in government or a rebel
armed military. Child soldiers are made in about 20 countries world wide, 100,000 children
are actually just in Africa (mostly in Sudan and Uganda) fighting in the front lines and a
group called Lord’s Resistance Army has been estimated to have abducted 50,000 children
and have made them into child soldiers. All these children are made into child soldiers
because the people that have abducted them and force the children to call them their
“commanders” think they are “cheaper” to keep rather than regular adult soldiers. The
commanders think they are “cheaper” to keep because to them a child soldier eats less, a
child soldier needs less medical care and they make more predictable actions than adult
soldiers because they are younger and since they are denied the right to an education lack
the intelligence. Now you know what child soldiers are considered as, but there are many
more things to learn about them, like what their day to day routine is.
Chile soldiers are usually forced to doing things they do not like by their ruthless and cruel
commanders. This paragraph will tell you their daily lives. For over 250,000 children that are
abducted and made into child soldiers life for them is very different then life from us children
here in Canada. Most child soldiers are forced into living in army barracks that they have to
consider as their homes and have to live with their military commanders as their only
considerable family, because child soldiers are usually forced to kill their own parents. The
children that are abducted are taught to perform certain duties by their commanders like
arm combat, laying mine explosives, scouting, cooking, different kinds of labor and some
are made into victims of sexual slavery and exploitation. With all these things they are put
through they also have to cope with the lost of their childhood; which they will never get
back. And are also left with a humongous amount of trauma that only a few people can
really comprehend. Now you know what life is like as a child soldier and as you can tell it’s a

2. very good one. And living out a bad life can have its consequences so next we will talk
about how their experience as a child soldier has affected them physically and mentally.
Child soldiers are put through a lot of things; like being forced into wars they shouldn’t even
be associated in or being made into prostitutes (mostly girls) and being sold to random
strangers for their pleasure. As you can see they are put through many things, so don’t you
ever wonder how these things take a toll in their physical and mental conditions? Well let
me tell you. Most child soldiers are turned physically and mentally vulnerable. Many children
that are saved by armed forces are usually left with some missing limbs, limbs may have
been lost due to them disobeying their commanders and thus as a punishment their
commanders cut one of their limbs off or maybe they lost a limb by fighting in a bloodthirsty
war that they are forced to participate in, who really knows? They are also mentally
intimidated by their commanders who threaten them with countless threats; like “If you try
running away, I will kill you.”, this is one reason why most child soldiers usually try not to
escape, because they are to terrified to take a stand because they know it might be the last
things they will ever do. That is why they will always and forever be child soldiers. This
paragraph has informed you how they are usually left when they are rescued from being
child soldiers and as you can see it is not the best way to be left as.
After reading this essay don’t you feel like you know a little bit more about child soldiers?
This essay did inform you about some facts about child soldiers, like about what the
definition of being a child soldier is, what their physical and metal conditions are and what
kind of life a child soldier goes through. Since this essay only gave you only some brief facts
about child soldiers and if you are thinking of wanting to learn more information you should
take some of your time and participate in programs that help child soldiers. You could also
try watching videos that inform you more about the subject child soldiers, like Michel’s
appearance in the We Day videos. You may not know it but watching videos and
participating in events like We Day can and will help child soldiers gain a better future.