What Are Child Soldiers?
In today’s society, there are still hundreds of thousands of children being used as child soldiers across the world. Child Soldiers are children under the age of 18 who are recruited and are associated with anything relating to a military’s organization. These children may be used to fight on the front lines, participate in suicide missions, or act as spies, messengers, or lookouts. Many of the children that become child soldiers are recruited or taken by force, while others tend to join out of despair, thinking that these groups provide them with their best shot at survival. According to Jo Becker, the advocacy director of the children’s rights division at Human Rights Watch, she estimates that there are “at least still 20 countries that still use child soldiers which include Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Iran, Iraq, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, and Yemen”. Not only that, but she also estimates that there are approximately around "250,000 children being used as child soldiers, where about 40% are females and 60% are males”.
What has the U.S. Done To Help?
In 2008, the United States passed 2 very important laws in an effort to make a bigger commitment to end the use of child soldiers. These laws were the Child Soldiers Prevention Act (CSPA) and the Child Soldiers Accountability Act (CSAA). Under the CSPA, it prevented foreign governments whose military or associated allied armed groups, who were known to recruit children from receiving any U.S. military aid. In 2019, the CSPA was updated by adding that a child soldier was not just someone under the age of 18 being used for military purposes, but now also being used by the police and other security forces.
Under the CSAA, it states that an offender (of someone who used/recruited child soldiers) only needs to be present in the United States for enforcement. The CSAA also requires that the United States federal courts have to try offenders even if the offenders “were not within the boundaries or jurisdiction of the United States”, and to punish them with fines and incarceration. Not only that, but the CSAA also made it a federal crime to knowingly recruit children under the age of fifteen and allowed the deportation of persons who recruited or used child soldiers as well.
Under the CSAA, it states that an offender (of someone who used/recruited child soldiers) only needs to be present in the United States for enforcement. The CSAA also requires that the United States federal courts have to try offenders even if the offenders “were not within the boundaries or jurisdiction of the United States”, and to punish them with fines and incarceration. Not only that, but the CSAA also made it a federal crime to knowingly recruit children under the age of fifteen and allowed the deportation of persons who recruited or used child soldiers as well.
What The United States Needs To Do
On paper, the CSPA and the CSAA should be having a huge effect on other countries that have been using child soldiers. The thing is, these acts haven't really been that effective. One underlying reason for this is because of a wavier that was included in the CSPA that actually allows the president "to provide resources and money to countries that have been identified as using child soldiers". This means that the president can send whatever supplies to countries he/she desires despite knowing the fact that these countries still use children in their armed forces. In 2017 alone, “restrictions on just over 95% of the military assistance that could have been withheld under the law have been waived”.
The United States is a large country that holds a great amount of power and influence on the world. Because of that, many people hold there own unique opinions on how the US can use this power and influence they posses in order to make the world a better place. In the case of child soldiers, some people argue that the US should be really aggressive towards other countries using child soldiers, even to the point of violence so that those countries really get the message and are forced to act quickly. Meanwhile on the other side of things, others argue a less violence approach such as simple abandoning aid given to these countries or even straight up cutting of ties with them altogether.
Despite the many ways to handle the child soldier problem, the most effective ways the US could go about ending the use of child soldiers in other countries is by:
The United States is a large country that holds a great amount of power and influence on the world. Because of that, many people hold there own unique opinions on how the US can use this power and influence they posses in order to make the world a better place. In the case of child soldiers, some people argue that the US should be really aggressive towards other countries using child soldiers, even to the point of violence so that those countries really get the message and are forced to act quickly. Meanwhile on the other side of things, others argue a less violence approach such as simple abandoning aid given to these countries or even straight up cutting of ties with them altogether.
Despite the many ways to handle the child soldier problem, the most effective ways the US could go about ending the use of child soldiers in other countries is by:
- No longer providing aid to countries that use use child soldiers
- Cut off trade with countries completely until they stop using child soldiers
- Come together with the rest of the United Nations/countries within to stop the use of child soldiers
Check out this video to learn more about the severity of child soldiers and what it was like for some of them:
Harsh Reality of Child Soldiers. 28 Feb. 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUeE12vXDs0.
Prinsloo, Karel. Child Soldiers - NDLA. 26 Feb. 2018, ndla.no/subjects/subject:27/topic:1:186489/resource:1:99878?filters=urn%3Afilter%3A3d4efd60-aa24-4dc9-b1ad-71fb0ba2746c. The
Prinsloo, Karel. Child Soldiers - NDLA. 26 Feb. 2018, ndla.no/subjects/subject:27/topic:1:186489/resource:1:99878?filters=urn%3Afilter%3A3d4efd60-aa24-4dc9-b1ad-71fb0ba2746c. The