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| As the US moved to block military assistance to five nations including three in Africa, over their use of child soldiers in armed conflicts.; these child soldiers (maybe Rwandan) are spotted at Kanyabayonga in eastern Congo.
("US Sanctions Five Nations Over Child Soldiers." VOA. Voice of America, 3 Oct. 2013. Web. 25 Nov. 2015.)
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The internationally agreed definition
for a child soldier is any person below 18 years of age who is, or who has
been, recruited or used by an armed force or armed group in any capacity. (Paris Principles and Guidelines on Children Associated
with Armed Forces or Armed Groups,
2007.) In simple interpretation, a child soldier is an individual under the
age of 18 who part take in any relation to war forcefully by an armed force.
The military use of children takes a variety of forms. Children can take a direct face to face hostile encounter with war as child soldiers, "they can be used as porters, spies, messengers, lookouts or they can be used as human shield and/or in propaganda." (1)
Throughout previous history, children have been involved in military campaigns even when practices went directly against cultural morals. "In WWW1, in Great Britain 250,000 boys under the age of 19 joined the army and it progressed greatly in WW2 as child soldiers fought in the Warsaw Uprising, in the Jewish resistance and in the Soviet Army." (1) You would think that as our world has evolved immensely throughout time that this practice against cultural morals would fade away. However, this is not the case as child soldiers still exist in third world countries. "Since 2000, the participation of child soldiers has been reported in most armed conflicts and in almost every region of the world. Although there are no exact figures, tens of thousands of children under the age of 18 continue to serve in government forces or armed opposition groups. Some of those involved in armed conflict are under 10 years old." (2)
The military use of children takes a variety of forms. Children can take a direct face to face hostile encounter with war as child soldiers, "they can be used as porters, spies, messengers, lookouts or they can be used as human shield and/or in propaganda." (1)
Throughout previous history, children have been involved in military campaigns even when practices went directly against cultural morals. "In WWW1, in Great Britain 250,000 boys under the age of 19 joined the army and it progressed greatly in WW2 as child soldiers fought in the Warsaw Uprising, in the Jewish resistance and in the Soviet Army." (1) You would think that as our world has evolved immensely throughout time that this practice against cultural morals would fade away. However, this is not the case as child soldiers still exist in third world countries. "Since 2000, the participation of child soldiers has been reported in most armed conflicts and in almost every region of the world. Although there are no exact figures, tens of thousands of children under the age of 18 continue to serve in government forces or armed opposition groups. Some of those involved in armed conflict are under 10 years old." (2)
Sources:
"About the Issues:." Child
Soldiers International. Web. 23 Nov. 2015. (1)
"Military Use of
Children." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 23 Nov. 2015. (2)
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