The use of children combatants is when a nation or group uses personal under 18 to be in their army, this usage of children in combat has stretched back to the early days of warfare with countries and empire training children at a young age to be a warrior. But with the creation of weapons such as the assault rifle, every person can be lethal, including children. Using kids as soldiers in wars are damaging to them since, children should get a good, safe, educated childhood, protected from the horrors of wars, not be in them.

The usage of these children as soldiers goes back to the days of Ancient Greece where the kids of Sparta trained at age seven to be in the militarized country. With the Middle Ages and knights, they use squires, or boys in training with the knights and do things such as hold the knight’s weapons and armor and care for the knight and his items. In the gunpowder era of war, boys were used as drummer boys, as known in the American Revolution and as powder boys; bringing powder for the cannons on ships and other supplies (The Crew). In the 20th century, children were fighting in Europe, Asia, and Africa in the World Wars and Cold War. Some of the combatants such as the SS of Nazi Germany had a tank division of teens and the Russians used orphaned boys as unit mascots (Child Soldiers Are Unfortunately Nothing New). The usage of child combatants didn’t get much world attention until last 30 years or so when the usage of children in African and South American countries by organizations fighting civil wars or rebellions appeared on Western news reports did the world have a major revelation on the major wrongs that these kids are getting or doing. Now with UN Resolutions banning the use of child combatants in wars by countries, the problem is now focusing on the groups such as the LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army) and the RUF (Revolutionary United Front). With the children saved or released from these groups, the major problem for these countries and the UN is the amount of children having to be rehabilitated is straining for these financially and infrastructure lacking countries.

The children in these armies are recruited by either through economic or social pressure or through forced enlistments. The age limit that these armies recruit children can be as young as 8 years old (Facts about Child Soldiers). The reason that these children are recruited is because they can be easily influenced to do violent acts as they are too young to resist or know what they are doing (Facts about Child Soldiers). These groups recruit boys to be fighters and the girls to be as slaves or wives for the soldiers. These children are sometimes forced to do things to their families or villages as to make sure they will never be able to reintegrate back into society as easily, and to make sure that they will stay with the armies. The usage of child combatants doesn't just stay in Africa as is portrayed usually, instead countries in South America, Asia, Europe and Africa have or had child combatants. These wars that have or are raging in these countries allow the warring faction to take in a large, available pool of children to fill in ranks. In these wars the kids are used as soldiers, porters, spies, or human shields. The children that are used as soldiers are given drugs to boost their aggressions and to lower any thinking about what they are doing.

When the wars are over and the factions disperse, the children are left with major impacts on them and their families and community. The children are scarred due to all of their experiences in war and their relations with family and friends destroyed. This creates a hard problem for their home countries as the country is in ruins and they have been forced to leave their homes and communities and fight in wars which with the armies forcing the kids before they leave to commit genocide, makes it hard for them to be accepted. The children are also damaged physically due to mines, artillery, and gunfire. This creates a problem as they can’t get a job if they are old enough or get a proper education, which in their war torn country might already be limited. Children are also deprived of an education which would make it hard for them to catch up to their age group’s level. This would create a problem as they are behind and it would take years for them to catch up since they are too young to get a job.
However, the United Nations and other countries have passed resolutions to put an end to these nations having child combatants. With these resolutions and focus groups from all over the world, spreading the focus on the plight of these children. Some of these resolutions include Resolution 1261 which says that the use of kids as soldiers as illegal for nations under international law and Resolution 2068 which would allow the United Nations to impose sanctions on groups who violate human rights with children (Peacekeeping Issues). With the help of these groups, many former child combatants are now telling their stories to prevent other nations from allowing this to happen in their country. The topic of child combatant has also spread to popular culture with things such as KONY2012 and movies such as Blood Diamond which tell of how kids are used in conflicts. Now these countries in Africa, South America, and Asia have a long, costly recovery path for these children recover and forget their horrid pasts. Ths way of Resolutions and the eyewitness stories would help to improve the idea of children not being expendable, cheap human shields for these armies to use to get their political, social, or economical needs for them and at these children’s expenses.

The usage of kids as soldiers to fight in wars is an injustice as children should get the schooling and safety and guidance of their families and not be in the tragedy of war. The wars that these children are in can be devastating to them and their communities as they have to be rehabilitated back into them. The usage of children in wars is a social injustice because the children involved have no say in what or why they are in these armies.


Works Cited
Eigen, Lewis. "Child Soldiers Are Unfortunately Nothing New." Scriptamus. N.p., 2 Nov. 2009. Web. 5 Dec. 2013.
"Facts About Child Soldiers." Facts About Child Soldiers | Human Rights Watch. Human Rights Watch, 8 Dec. 2008. Web. 12 Nov. 2013.
Mobley, Victor . "The History of Child Soldiers." Suite 101. N.p., 6 Dec. 2013. Web. 6 Dec. 2013. <http://suite101.com/a/the-history-of-child-soldiers-a59619.>.
"Peacekeeping Issues. Children in conflict." UN News Center. UN, n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2013.
"Recommended films - The Roméo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative." The Roméo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2013.
"The Crew." Experience life on board the world's most famous warship. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Dec. 2013. <http://www.hms-victory.com/content/history/crew>.
"United Nations Human Rights Website - Treaty Bodies Database - Document - Basic Reference Document -." United Nations Human Rights Website - Treaty Bodies Database - Document - Basic Reference Document -. UNICEF, 12 Oct. 2001. Web. 14 Nov. 2013.