RaderandRichard1

NickRichardandEllieRader
Ms.Agar
EnglishII
1December2015
GuidedTerrorism
Howmanypeopledoesatypical8yearoldkill?TodayinAmericathisquestionwould
soundalarmingtomostpeople,althoughitcouldbecommonlyaskedinAfrica.
ChildsoldiersarenotsolelyinAfricabutitholdsthemajorityintheworld.TheUnitedStates
andGermanyareonlytwoexamplesofmanycountriesthathaveenlistedchildrenassoldiers.
1922HitlerYouthfoundedasaNaziparamilitaryorganizationforboysages14to18in
Germany(Rosen119).AlthoughtheideaofHitlerwasalreadybad,theenlistmentofchildren
madehiscaseevenworse,eventhoughitwasagoodtoolforpropaganda.18611865U.S.Civil
War.Inthewar,thousandsofyoungstersbetweenages9and17jointheranksofboththeUnion
andtheConfederateforcesdespitetheofficialenlistmentageof18(Rosen117).Child
soldieringhashappened,ishappening,andwillcontinuetohappenifnothingisdonetoprevent
it.
Theuseofchildreninwareffortsiscommonlyknownworldwide,especiallytheuseof
theminAfrica.Althoughtherearemanyorganizationsthatworktoremovechildrenfromthis
terriblerealitythereareconstantlyrecruitmentsofchildrengoingintowar.Lotsofchildrenenter
thewarbecausetheyneedawaytosurvive.InMyanmar,parentsvolunteertheirchildrenfor
therebelKarenarmybecausetheguerrillasprovideclothesandtwosquaremealsadayin1990
anestimated900ofthe5,000strongKarenarmywereundertheageof15(UNICEF).Another

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reasonfortheunderagedkidstogointothearmyseemedtobetofindareplacementorsurrogate
family.InUgandain1986,theNationalResistanceArmyhadanestimated3,000children,
manyunder16,including500girls,mostofwhomhadbeenorphanedandwholookedonthe
armyasareplacementfortheirparents(UNICEF).Worldwidethereisahugeproblemwith
underagesoldiersalso.Itiscommonlyestimatedthattherearebetween250,000and300,000
childsoldiersinvolvedinwarsomewhereintheworldatanygiventime(Rosen1).These
childrenneedtoknowthatwardoesnotmeansurvivalforthem,itistrulytheopposite.
Theworkthatmanyvolunteersoforganizationshasproventohelpremovechildrenfrom
thedeadlywarzonesandhazardouslifestyles.Thousandsofchildrenhavecomeoutofcombat
inthelastfiveyearsasconflictsendedoreasedincountriessuchasAngola,Liberia,andSierra
Leone,butthousandsmorehavebeendrawnintoconflictsinplaceslikeSudanandChad
(Gettleman).Manydifferentreasonsthrowchildrenintocombatbutreligionisalargepartofit
all.AccordingtoUNICEF,thenumberisgrowingastheconflictpitscommunityagainst
communityandgainssectarianovertonesorMuslimversusChristian(Gajewski).Despite
effortsnumbersaregrowing.Thenumberofchildsoldiersinvolvedinthefightinginthe
CentralAfricanRepublichasrisentonearly6,000(Gajewski).Theseorganizationsarecrucial
totheremovaloftheseotherwiseinnocentchildrenbuttheycannotdoitalone.
Involvingchildreninwarfareandastoolsforpropagandainasensedehumanizesthem.
Thosewhoshouldbevaluedthemostareconsideredtheleastvaluable.Andwhilechildren
mightbethoughttobethepeopledeservingthegreatestprotection,asasoldiertheyareoften
consideredthemostexpendable(UNICEF).Themajorityofchildrenarelookedatasinnocent
buttheyarefearedbymostinAfricabecauseofhowlethaltheyareinbattle.Theideathatthe

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useofchildsoldiersisanespeciallybarbaricpracticeofnewformsofwarfarestemsfromthe
intensefocusonAfricanconflicts(Rosen23).Thesechildrenareusedformassdestruction
becausetheyareeasilypersuadedanddowhattheyaretold.Muchthesamethinghasbeen
happeningmorerecentlyinSierraLeone,wherein1995theRevolutionaryUnitedFronthas
beentovillagestocapturechildrenintoitsranksandforcethemtowitnessortakepartinthe
tortureandexecutionoftheirownrelatives(UNICEF).Somechildrenaresoldintothemilitary
andsomeareforciblyaddedtotheranks.Buteveniftheydonotvolunteertheymaybe
recruitedforcibly(UNICEF).Africaisnottheonlylocationthatthesechildrenareforcedinto
servinginthemilitary....InotherpartsofAfrica,Asia,LatinAmerica,andtheMiddleEast,
childrenarebeingusedascombatants,usuallyagainsttheirwill(Gettleman).Manypeopleare
undertheinfluencethatitisonlyboyswhoareforcedintoservingbutgirlsaretoo,althoughit
maybefordifferentreasons.Anditisntjustboys:Girlsareoftenpressedintodutyascooksor
messengers.Manyaresubjecttosexualabuse,includingrape(Gettleman).Innocenceiswhat
givesthesekidspower,theirsizemakesthemseemunableofdamagealthoughthatis
misconstrued.Beingsmall,andinconspicuouschildrenalsohaveparticularvalueasmessengers
orspies(UNICEF).Eachcultureviewschildrenindifferentperspectives.
Therearemanydifferencesinchildrenandadultswhentheyarefightingandinany
aspectinlife.Besidesbeingabletouselethalweapons,childrenhaveotheradvantagesas
soldiers.Theyareeasiertointimidateandtheydoastheyaretold.Theyarealsolesslikelythan
adultstorunawayanddonotdemandsalaries(UNICEF).Ifyoucanconvinceachildthatheis
doingthecorrectthing,thenitiseasytohavehimlistentoyou.Childsoldiersareideal,a
militarycommanderfromChadtoldHumanRightsWatch.Theydontcomplain,thendont

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expecttobepaidandifyoutellthemtokill,theykill(Gettleman).Intheeyesofthe
militaristicleaders,childrenareadvantageousbecausethey,inasense,continueonthefeud.
Inlongdrawnoutconflictschildrenalsobecomeavaluedresource.Manycurrentdisputes
havelastedagenerationormore,halfofthoseunderwayin1993hadbeengoingonformore
thanadecade(UNICEF).Thisisagoodthingforthepeoplefightingthewarbecausethe
childrenarebroughtinatayoungage,sometimesnotevenknowingwhattheyarefightingfor
butcontinueonwithitbecauseitistheonlythingthattheyeverknew.Warfareisgenerational.
Therearechildrenouttherethatarebeingguideddownahorriblepathandtheyneedthe
helpofmanyothers.Thesechildrendonotknowbetterthantofight.Theyaremajorlytargeted
bypropagandaandtakenadvantageofbecauseoftheirage.Peopleallovertheworldarewithout
knowledgeofthishorrificrealityofmanychildreninAfricaandnumerousothercountries.
Providingknowledgetoallofthesecluelesspeopleisonlythefirststeptohelpthesechildren.

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WorksCited
Gajewski,KarenAnn."TheNumberofChildSoldiersInvolvedintheFightingintheCentral
AfricanRepublichasRisentoNearly6,000."
TheHumanist
Mar.Apr.2014:48.
Student
Edition
.Web.17Nov.2015.
Gettleman,Jeffrey."Armed&Underage:AcrosstheGlobe,ThousandsofChildrenareBeing
ForcedtoServeasSoldiers."NewYorkTimesUpfront20Apr.2009:12+.Student
Edition.Web.17Nov.2015.
Rosen,DavidM.
ChildSoldiersaReferenceHandbook.
SantaBarbara,Calif.:ABCCLIO,
2012.PDF.
"ChildrenAsSoldiers."UNICEF.Web.16Nov.2015.

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I.
Introduction:ChildSoldiers
HistoryofChildSoldiersCivilWarquotes
Hook:Howmanypeopledidyoukillwhenyouwere8yearsold?
Thesis:

II.
BodyParagraph1NumbersandEffortstoDecrease

III.
BodyParagraph2UsesandDehumanization

IV.
BodyParagraph3Propaganda,Forcing,andContinuationofWarfare

V.
Conclusion
Restatement/Summationof13andthesis