The Negative Effects Of Children Fighting In War

When I was younger, my friends and I would all go outside with toy guns and shoot each other with foam bullets. We would all go against each other for enjoyment and to make good memories. None of us would get harmed or would harm others. We also never had to experience real bullets coming at us, harming us or others.
A claim that can be made between the texts “Armed & Underage” by Jeffrey Gettleman and “The Charge: Genocide” by Lydia Polgreen is that children fighting in wars have negative effects on them and others. Jeffrey Gettleman states, “And it isn't just boys: Girls are often pressed into duty as cooks or messengers. Many are subjected to sexual abuse, including rape.” The author was basically telling us that both genders are used
He was abandoned by parents who fled to Yemen, he says, and joined a militia when he was about 7.” In other words, this information here is telling us that a young boy’s parents left him, having to join a militia and live with other soldiers at the age of seven. This supports the claim that children fighting in wars have negative effects on them and others since it tells us how his parents left when he was being sent to war. Polgreen writes in her text, “Since 2003, the United Nations estimates that at least 300,000 civilians have been killed in Darfur—a vast arid region of Sudan, the largest country in Africa.” The author is basically saying how so many civilians suffer in Darfur from fighting and being involved in the war. This supports the claim that children fighting in wars have negative effects on them and others since so many people died, leaving their families behind. Polgreen later then writes, “Now, five years after the violence began, Sudan's President, Omar Hassan al-Bashir, could face arrest on charges of genocide—the systematic destruction of a racial or cultural group—as well as war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur.” This
Gettleman writes, “‘Child soldiers are ideal,’ a military commander from the African nation of Chad told Human Rights Watch. ‘They don't complain, they don't expect to be paid—and if you tell them to kill, they kill.’” In essence, this quote is revealing to us that military commanders appreciate having child soldiers. This strengthens the claim that children engaging in wars have positive effects since it benefits the economy by not giving the children money, and do what the commanders say. Polgreen later writes for us, “Some diplomats worry that the prosecutor's action will undermine efforts to negotiate peace and provide aid to the millions of displaced refugees.” In brief, this quote shows how some people support the president’s decisions of putting children in wars. This supports the counterclaim children fighting in wars has positive effects since many believe that children participating bring peace and aid to refugees. Referring back to the original claim that children being involved in wars has negative effect on them and others, Lydia Polgreen writes in her article, “One day this past March, a frail great- grandmother sat amid the charred ruins of her home in Abu Sorouj, a town in Darfur. With her bare, gnarled hands, she dug holes in the sand to construct the frame of a