Child Soldiers Essay

 

Sarge P4

Child Soldiers

            It is estimated that right now, at this very moment there are 300,000 children under the age of 18 fighting all over the world. These children are taken from their homes in the cruelest and unusual ways to fight for a cause that they don't even believe in. Many of the children are forced to kill their parents when they leave their homes, and then later they are commanded to shoot their personal friends.

            Imagine being one of these poor, helpless children who are dragged into this misery at such young ages. Here in America, all we are worried about is if our outfit looks cute, or what we're having for dinner. On the front of my scrapbook there is a boy, and the quote says, "And in America, violent video games come with an R rating." This shows us that we have no idea what these children go through every single day of their lives. These kids have nothing to think about but fighting and death. They wake up every morning and wonder whether they will stay alive that day, or if they will follow many of their friend's fates. These poor children have no choice where they go, or what cause they are fighting for.

            It is not right that the children are taken and mistreated in such ways. It is awful to think that many of the young girls are raped, and they become pregnant. They are still used to fight even in such circumstances. The children are used as cooks, spies, laying explosives, and in serious combat.

            You might ask where these awful things are taking place. The answer is almost everywhere in the world. The most common places are Rwanda, Uganda, The Congo, and many places in Asia. Children are taken thousands of miles away from their homes to fight and most of them will never return to their mother and father.

            Will they be forced to stay in the army for the rest of their lives? Sadly, the answer is usually yes. This doesn't mean that they will always be called child soldiers. Once a teenager turns the age of eighteen, they are no longer considered a child of war, and their past is completely forgotten.

            There are very few wars right now where children are not participating in the fighting. When you imagine war, you probably think of lines of men they are in camouflage dress with guns. This is definitely not the case for most places in the world. Children are a big part of the fighting, even though many of them don't know how to use the weapons. Thousands of children die from the misuse of weaponry each year. Many of them also die from disease and infection.

            We have many great resources that are trying to stop the use of child soldiers. The symbol that represents this groups is a hand with a small child holding a gun inside. These groups are helping to make people aware of the dangers and horrors of child soldiers. Their job is to inform the public about the awful things that are happening around the world.

            As you can see, the use of child soldiers is a very big issue in our world today. I hope we can all be more aware and do everything we can to help these children who have no choice but to kill, or they will be killed.