Argumentative Essay: Should Child Soldiers Be Allowed?

Superior Essays
On March 15th 2003, I was terrorized into joining the country's army. I became a soldier and I owned my own gun; a fully loaded rifle. Today my companions and I were forced to plant mines which lead to the death of numerous people and the village. I'm not sure why we are forced to do this because it seems as if the only thing the country wants is power and wealth since\ nowadays we are forced to fight for resources such as gold and diamonds. The use of child soldiers should not be allowed because it leads to genocide and the countries use the children just for power and wealth. Some may argue that the use of child soldiers should be allowed. Furthermore, this is why the use of child soldiers shouldn’t be allowed.

The use of child soldiers
…show more content…
According to “Armed & Underage” by Jeffrey Gettleman it states, “Those groups are fighting among themselves for a share of the country's timber, copper, gold, diamonds, and other resources. All sides have relied on child soldiers.” This evidence supports the claim that the use of child soldiers should not be allowed because the countries use the children just for power and wealth because diamonds and gold were known as valuable items which could be used for trade to gain more money. The case was that they only wanted the child soldiers to fight for these resources so that there country can become more rich. This case is not for a good reason showing that the use of child soldiers should not be allowed. According to “The Charge: Genocide” by Lydia Polgreen it states, “China is Sudan's biggest oil customer, and both Russia and China are major weapons suppliers to Sudan.” This evidence supports the claim that the use of child soldiers should not be allowed because the countries use the children just for power and wealth because it shows how it can affect the countries economically. If countries such as these are supplying resources, this causes a gain in power towards the countries who are receiving those resources. Child soldiers are somewhat involved in this because the countries are using them in order to continue the supplying of the resources between the three countries. They want power and wealth out of it. According to “Armed & Underage” by Jeffrey Gettleman it states, “In one country after another, conflicts have morphed from cause-driven struggles, like ending colonial rule, to criminal drives led by warlords whose goals are nothing more than plunder, greed, and power.” This evidence supports the claim that the use of child soldiers should not be allowed because the countries use the children just for power and wealth because it explains an

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    In the war many children are enlisted to fight. They are instructed to injure innocent people such as strangers and possibly even family members. What shocks people the most about this is that children, who are all under the age of 18, are completing these harsh acts. Enlisting into the war as a child soldier could end with prosecution or no punishment. Children are forced by commanders through false promises, drugs, and things that are difficult to picture.…

    • 1267 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    It is also a geostrategic and development issue. Child soldiers are usually depicted as victims. That’s accurate: Exploited, torn from their families, deprived of their education, and forced into battle, child soldiers are truly casualties of war.” (gates)They are then taken as a broken down child and ordered to do kill and them not knowing what they are doing, they…

    • 871 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Images last week from an ISIS video appearing to show a child executing a hostage were horrific. The very idea of the "cubs of the caliphate," as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria dubs them, is stomach-churning.”) This statement and photos show that the children in the video are no more than 14 years old thus they would not have had enough experience in the world to make the right decision. (captaindarwin ) While some did this do to lack of experience while others did this because they were brainwashed by drugs and then threatened to kill or be killed.…

    • 718 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Can anyone possibly imagine a child in war causing havoc while carrying loaded weapons? Many child soldiers are being stolen from their families and being forced to fight and then being punished for their crimes committed in the wars. Unfortunately, there are tons of children forced to fight in the wars today. The topic child soldiers has become a huge controversy across the world today because of whether or not child soldiers deserve amnesty. The reason why it has become so controversial is because many people question if it is truly the child's fault that he or she committed the war crimes.…

    • 1523 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Essay On Child Soldiers

    • 859 Words
    • 4 Pages

    As shown in the article the children are not only used for being in combat. In some people's point of view they believe child soldiers don't deserve amnesty. In the article child soldiers in the future it shows some reason why child soldiers don't deserve amnesty. The article states “many former combatants and child soldiers are still perpetrating their bad habits, including sexual crimes and abuses, once they return to civilian life” (Mukwege para. 5).…

    • 859 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    People think that this is a problem where no one is to blame ,but what if that is not the case. Maybe the blame should be put on the leaders of these child soldiers. That meaning, the adults that are recruiting / forcing these kids to go to war should be blamed. Yes, some may say that these problems do not have one specific reason for happening. But there are people who are running these things.…

    • 401 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Others will argue that child soldiers should be prosecuted for these crimes. Especially after they have been changed so much, when they are brought out of that place, they could want to kill people who want to help them. Such as in a rehabilitation center, they may want to hurt whoever is trying to work them. With that, “more effective and appropriate methods other than detention and prosecution are encouraged, enabling children children to come to terms with their past and the acts they committed (article 7). Then again, others may say that they are innocent.…

    • 123 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the world today there are a total of 300,000 child soldiers in use. Not only that but also, 40% of militias, military, and terrorist groups use children . The problem with all these child soldiers is not only getting rid of them but also whether or not they should not be punished. They should be given amnesty because, they are forced into this life, put on narcotics by the leaders, and brainwashed to believe what they're doing is right. Many children are forced into this life due to things like poverty or peer pressure.…

    • 958 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Children come into this world in hopes of being the future of this world, but they never imagine themselves as stone cold killers. The dilemma of child soldiers has spread to hundreds of countries around the world and has no intention of slowing. Now, an estimated 300,000 children fight wars under the forceful hand of local militias that care none for the people they effect. They suffer the cruelest of things during their time as a child soldiers, the effects are frightening including all sorts of trauma that they may never recover from. Now these child soldiers have grown up and are looking for redemption in the new world but first are being prosecuted for their crimes as warlords.…

    • 1735 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There is a long history of people from all different backgrounds and ethnicities exploiting children for political power. Unfortunately it persists to this day. The war between Israel and Palestine has raged on for decades. Images can be ingrained in our mind. As I think of the Vietnam War the first of many thoughts that hit me is the image of a little girl who is about seven to eight crying with her arms outstretched naked.…

    • 221 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    One controversial issue over the past couple of years has been the topic of child soldiers. On one side, people argue that child soldiers should be prosecuted. On the other hand, others contend that they should be given amnesty. My own view is that child soldiers should be given forgiveness for what they have done because they were forced into killing, they were manipulated, and they only had one choice once they entered the army: Kill or be killed. When villages are attacked and families are taken away for children, they don’t know any better and they believe that the commanders are the adults that they should trust.…

    • 863 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    They have been ripped from their families, or orphaned, by the same army that forces them to service. Every single one of these children fight because they don’t have a choice, their only other escape is to risk death while trying to run from something they should never have been a part of. Usually though, these children don’t even want to escape because they have been made dependant on their commanders for drugs, food and emotional support. In the past fifteen years, the use of child soldiers has spread to every region and armed conflict in the world.…

    • 413 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The children of Sierra Leone were disproportionately affected by the 11 years Civil War in Sierra Leone in a negative way. With an enlistment of 7, 000 children in the armed forces (Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, 2001). Generally referred to as “child soldiers”, however, these children are under age 18. Globally, there is an estimate of 300, 000 children involved with armed forces and armed groups (Betancourt, Borisova, Soudière, & Williamson, 2011). They were recruited to fight in war front against their wishes; forced labor to cook, force into sexual slavery, used as suicide bombers and drugging them to commit other atrocities.…

    • 237 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Alert Child Soldiers

    • 1127 Words
    • 5 Pages

    YELLOW= BEFORE ORANGE= AFTER PINK=CITED QUOTE All around the world there are desperate children being abducted and brainwashed into child soldiers. Children as young as 5 are taken, given a gun and told to kill others or die. If these kids do get rescued by peacekeepers they go into rehabilitation. Child soldiers deserve amnesty because they were just desperate children who were abducted and brainwashed into killing. Around the world innocent children 5-18 are being terribly captured.…

    • 1127 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    this is one of the main reasons children are not allowed to fight in war. some of the others are the facts that children are often smaller than a fully grown adult because they are not fully developed, yet in these third world countries we see children being used for exactly these reasons, because they are small and with the recent enhancements to small arms, they are able to carry around fully automatic rifles and use them to kill. In conclusion, personally, i don't think that children should ever be allowed to go to war, and i don't think they should be allowed the choice to go to war either. Now obviously there is people out there that are going to think different to me, Mainly terrorist groups recruiting children and using them, but what do you think about children going to war, Should they be allowed…

    • 826 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays