Child Soldiers
Child Soldiers
In over 18 countries in the world, child soldiers and utilized and direct participants of war. These children, are denied a real childhood or any real life other then the destruction and death that surrounds them, an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 children are serving as soldiers for rebel groups and the government in wars that are going on in the world today. All of these children, from a young age participate in modern warfare. They hold AK-47s and M-16s on the front lines of these wars, serve as human mine detectors, take part in suicide missions, carry supplies, and act as spies, messengers or lookouts for whatever country they are fighting for.
Because children and very vulnerable and easily intimidated they make very obedient soldiers. Many are just taken away from their families or recruited by force, and often must follow orders due to the fear of being killed. As a country falls during war, leaving children no schooling, driving them away from their homes, or separating them from family members, many children think that these armed groups as their best chance for survival. Others seek escape from poverty or join military forces to take revenge for family members who have been killed in the war. Some of these children are younger than 10 years old and have witnessed or taken part in acts of unbelievable violence, often against their own families or communities. These children are dealing with the worst dangers and the most horrible suffering.
“In an interview with United Nations staff in Liberia, a boy of 13 years admitted that he felt that he could not return to his family because he knew that his father would be angry with him for bringing men to the village who had raped and killed his mother in front of the whole family. He said that he had brought the men to the village because the commander had told him that he was going to be taken back to his family — “after that the rebels became my family and I did everything to please my father
In over 18 countries in the world, child soldiers and utilized and direct participants of war. These children, are denied a real childhood or any real life other then the destruction and death that surrounds them, an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 children are serving as soldiers for rebel groups and the government in wars that are going on in the world today. All of these children, from a young age participate in modern warfare. They hold AK-47s and M-16s on the front lines of these wars, serve as human mine detectors, take part in suicide missions, carry supplies, and act as spies, messengers or lookouts for whatever country they are fighting for.
Because children and very vulnerable and easily intimidated they make very obedient soldiers. Many are just taken away from their families or recruited by force, and often must follow orders due to the fear of being killed. As a country falls during war, leaving children no schooling, driving them away from their homes, or separating them from family members, many children think that these armed groups as their best chance for survival. Others seek escape from poverty or join military forces to take revenge for family members who have been killed in the war. Some of these children are younger than 10 years old and have witnessed or taken part in acts of unbelievable violence, often against their own families or communities. These children are dealing with the worst dangers and the most horrible suffering.
“In an interview with United Nations staff in Liberia, a boy of 13 years admitted that he felt that he could not return to his family because he knew that his father would be angry with him for bringing men to the village who had raped and killed his mother in front of the whole family. He said that he had brought the men to the village because the commander had told him that he was going to be taken back to his family — “after that the rebels became my family and I did everything to please my father