Punishment Of Child Soldiers Essay

A crime that usually goes unpunished is the recruitment of child soldiers. In many third world countries, child soldiers are not uncommon. These children are sometimes punished for their actions in wars. Some people think it is fair, others think it is not. Most of these children lost their parents before getting involved with the groups that recruit these children (5). These children are young, so they are easily impressionable. They are drugged, manipulated, and abused. These children usually rely on their parents to help with their decision making process, as it is not fully developed yet. People who think these children should be punished only believe this because they had could have chosen not to take part in any wars. For some of these …show more content…
Humans instinctually want to feel either love or belonging. Many of these children have lost their parents, so they are usually on their own. The kids will usually look for any source of this feeling, either of love or belonging, and hold on to it. When they encounter these groups they are usually tricked and deceived into believing they are loved and belong with these groups. Children who live in or near these conflict areas are most likely without basic needs (5). Over 10,000 children have been abducted by the Lord's Resistance Army, a group that recruits these children and trains them to fight.
Lastly, these children should not be held accountable for their actions is because they are drugged and have little no to control over themselves. They are given drugs such as cocaine, heroine, and sometimes they are even given mixtures of drugs. One would be a mixture of cocaine or heroine and gunpowder, nicknamed Brown-Brown (2). When these children grow up and leave these groups, many of them will be left with a drug addiction. The drugs these children are given are drugs that give the user no control over themselves, they are not in control of their thoughts or