2/23/11
College Prep
What to do about the soldiers in Africa?
Introduction
There are roughly 300,000 children of all ages thinking that it is normal for people their age to be fighting in a war. These children are being trained to become killers, and they have no say what happens to them. Some people think that America should not get involved because America has no control over what people in Africa do. However, America needs to get involved. What Uganda, Sudan, and other countries are doing in Africa is wrong, and they need to be stopped. America needs to intervene in the use of child soldiers in Africa.
Background
Ishmael Beah lost his whole family when he was only 12 years old. They were attacked by the Rebel Army, which is also known as the Revolutionary United Front. Beah and a few kids his own age fled the massacre and traveled along the countryside. All the children including Beah stumbled upon a government army base and were then recruited as soldiers. He fought for the army until he was 15 years old. Those 3 years he was a soldier he saw and did some horrific things that no young teen should ever have to experience. He was taken away by the United Nations Children’s Fund also known as UNICEF at age 15. After being with UNICEF for a while he came to the United States. When he got to the US he ended up going to college and he wrote a book called A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier. In his book he said, “I believe children have the resilience to outlive their sufferings, if given the chance” (1). Not all child soldiers can get as lucky as Beah (Morse 1).
There are children right now fighting and dying in a war that they shouldn’t be in. Around 300,000 children have lost there childhood and been forced to fight, and according to David J. Francis almost 40% of them are located in Africa (Schulheis 31). Roughly 120,000 children soldier are in Africa, and all of them have lost their childhood. They are now forced to kill or be killed.
What these children are forced to go threw at such a young of an age is unreal. They have to fight in wars against adults when they can be as young at 7 or 8 years old. Sometimes these children are forced to kill their very own families. Not every child soldier is in direct combat however. Some of them are cooks, others are guards and some are even spies (Rawcliffe 1). Other children are used as decoys in cars, so that car bombs can get through a checkpoint or roadblock with out being on anyone’s radar (Rawcliffe 1).
The use of child soldiers is child abuse at its worst. They aren’t harming the children, but they are putting young children in positions were they can die at any moment. Some children are just used as decoys so they can draw out the enemy. These countries don’t look at these children as kids, to them they are just disposable body’s. Its wrong and America needs to get involved as soon as possible. Peter Warren Singer said, “The use of children soldiers is not only child abuse but also a threat to national and global security” (Morse 1).
Arguments
Forcing children to join the military is so many things; it takes away there childhood, and it makes them think that killing at age 9 is acceptable. These children think that it is normal to kill people on a daily basis. If America does not intervene soon, then if we ever get into a war with those countries then how soon will it be until we are fighting Children? People always use to use the saying, “What if it was your child?” Everyone wants the best for their children, however if the parents of the children that are taken away try to retaliate. Then they will get murdered and sometimes by their own children. So it is America’s responsibility to help these families that got torn apart.
America needs to stop this now before even more children will get involved. The more children that get involved in this mess means that many more lives are ruined. The last thing we need is to continue to let other countries breed children soldiers.
What these children are forced to go threw at such a young of an age is unreal. They have to fight in wars against adults when they can be as young at 7 or 8 years old. Sometimes these children are forced to kill their very own families. Not every child soldier is in direct combat however. Some of them are cooks, others are guards and some are even spies (Rawcliffe 1). Other children are used as decoys in cars, so that car bombs can get through a checkpoint or roadblock with out being on anyone’s radar (Rawcliffe 1).
The use of child soldiers is child abuse at its worst. They are not harming the children, but they are putting young children in positions were they can die at any moment. Some children are just used as decoys so they can draw out the enemy. These countries don’t look at these children as kids, to them they are just disposable body’s. Its wrong and America needs to get involved as soon as possible. Peter Warren Singer said, “The use of children soldiers is not only child abuse but also a threat to national and global security” (Morse 1).
America as a nation will have to deal with child soldiers eventually. Weather we are trying to stop it or we are in a war and fighting the very children we should be trying to protect. America should stop child soldiers before we are forced to fight or maybe kill them in war.
Counter Arguments
People don’t think that it would be cost efficient to get involved. They say America would have to spend money on soldiers to send over to Africa, so they could try to help the children. x The U.S. would also have to spend money trying to give the countries weapons and soldiers so that they can defend themselves.
We would also be meddling in Foreign Affairs. Africa would not want foreign soldiers and politics trying to get involved in something that doesn’t concern them. Africa does things the way they seem fit, they would want us to stay out of it and mind our own business.
What happens if they don’t want to cooperate? America would be going into their country and telling their people what to do and how to do it. Countries in Africa don’t want to cut soldiers out of their army just because their children. They need the manpower to help stay safe. The U.S cannot meddle in something that isn’t in America with out getting asked to come and help.
Other people say that America has its plate full, so we can’t help the children. They say that we have over 20,000 troops in Afghanistan and we are billions of dollars in debt. We don’t have the resources to get involved in Africa.
Response to counter arguments
It is understandable that it would cost some money to get involved in stopping the child soldiers. It would pay off however, if America spends millions and millions of dollars just to save 100 children then it would be worth it.
People in foreign countries are doing something wrong, then America needs to step in and fix the problem. America is the most powerful nation in the world. We have everything we will ever need; X-box, Television, and almost everyone has a car. America has plenty of time and experience to help change this world. It would be phenomenal if we started with one of the biggest problems in the world. Also, if America did go into Africa with the goal of stopping child soldiers and succeeded. Then maybe other countries will see that we are a good nation and want to be allies instead of enemies.
The road to stopping child soldiers would be long and hard. The chances of every country cooperating is very unlikely but if Uganda promised to change then maybe more countries would follow. Right now America has been in the same war for 10 years and making no progress. If America would just make an effort to help the children in Africa, then we could be making progress on something.
America is the most powerful nation in the world, therefore, our plate should never be full. There are so many people who can help the children in Africa. Were over $14 trillion dollars in debt we obviously have been doing something wrong. If we are going into debt then we should go into debt right way by saving children’s lives. What’s a couple more billion dollars compared to 14 trillion dollars?
Conclusion
Every child deserves a childhood, and it is our obligation as Americans to give back to the world. The use of children soldiers is not just going to vanish. It is a growing cause, and people need to get involved before wars in Africa consist of children killing other children. There are around 300,000 children soldiers in this world and America must get involved before that number doubles..
-Justin Orf
A special thanks to
- Jessica Maher
-Adam Lamoureux
-Kent Miller
-Shawn Hyer
Works Cited
Boeck, Filip, and Alcinda Honwana. "Children and Youth in Africa: Agency, Identity, and Place."
Makers and Breakers (2005): 1 - 9. Web. 15 Feb 2011.
Kearney, J. A. "The Representation of Child Soldiers in Contemporary African Fiction." Routledge 26.1 (2010): 67 - 92. Web. 15 Feb 2011.
Rawcliffe, John. "Child Soldiers: Legal Obligations and U.S. Implementation." Army Lawyer (2007): 1 - 6. Web. 15 Feb 2011.
SCHULTHEIS, ALEXANDRA. "African Child Soldiers and Humanitarian Consumption." Peace Review: A Journal of Social Justice 20. (1989): 31-40. Web. 14 Feb 2011.
Morse, Jane. "Child Soldiers a National and Global Security Issue, Expert says." (2008): 1-2. Web. 15 Feb 2011.
Morse, Jane. "Former Child Soldier a Beacon of Hope to Conflict Survivors." (2008): 1-2. Web. 14 Feb 2011.
Wagner, Cynthia. "Stopping the Use of Child Soldiers." 43.2 (2009): 9. Web. 15 Feb 2011.
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