Fight for the Right: Child Soldiers are not Getting the Attention They Deserve

Imagine being involved in physical combat in a war. Now, imagine being forced to fight not only alongside a boy who is only twelve years old but also against boys and girls his age and even younger. Think about being in those children’s places. It is hard to envision being kidnapped and forced into service and being severely punished for any attempts to escape. Thousands upon thousands of children are put through these situations each day. Rebel militias and government groups alike in countries with raging wars are enlisting children as young as eight years old into their armed forces. The magnitude of these numbers may be decreasing but remain a constant threat. A consistent problem occurs with children who feel the need to enlist in an armed forces group to support themselves or their family. Unfortunately, many militaries accept them into their forces despite the child’s age. Once the children are involved, the leaders of their group order them to carry out crimes that no one, let alone children under the age of thirteen, should ever witness or be involved. Even after enduring years of service, assuming they even survive, child soldiers have the most difficult time readjusting to normal life as compared to older fighters. More and more individual people and larger groups are becoming aware of the use of child soldiers globally, though. In the past two decades, multiple support groups have been established and have helped child soldiers demobilize and reintegrate into society. More attention needs to be given to the children who have yet to receive help. The United Nations, along with other human rights groups and individual governments, should increase pressure on governments and rebel forces who recruit child soldiers. Even though there has been a decrease in the number of child soldiers in the world, there are still many countries that use them. Susanna Kim releases numbers regarding demobilization of child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo in