Child Soldiers

There are an estimated 300,000 child soldiers fighting in the world today; that would fill Wembley stadium nearly 3 and a half times over!

A child soldier is classified as anyone aged 18 or under who is recruited into armed forces, either by choice or by force and child soldiers can come as young as 7. They are recruited by rebel groups, militia and even government armies. There are an estimated 30,000 children serving in DRC alone and Burma’s national army contains an estimated 70,000 children!

Not all children end up shooting a gun. Some are used as slaves or servants; carrying equipment, cooking and delivering messages. Others are used as spies or decoys, as children can move around with less suspicion. Of course children are also given weapons and expected to fight.

Some people presume that child soldiers are all boys. In fact around 40% of children in fighting forces are female. For girls there are further horrors once they join as they are often forced to become the ‘wives’ of the male soldiers. Rape, STIs and pregnancy makes life in an already dangerous situation even worse for the girls. They often find it difficult if they do return to their communities later on because of the shame attached to sex outside of marriage.

There are a lot of reasons as to why child soldiers exist. Some are abducted and preyed upon by armed groups as they are seen as being easier to brainwash into committing terrible acts and they can forced into doing things. They are also easy to replace with more children and are therefore dispensable. Some are even forced to hurt or kill members of their own family which makes it almost impossible for them to return home.

Believe it or not though, some children choose to join as life in a fighting force can seem appealing. Many of the children that choose to join will have grown up with war and they are likely to be living in poverty. The promise of money, education and a better quality of life can seem attractive, although they very rarely get any of these. The children’s family may have had no choice about handing over their child, as they were no longer able to feed everyone. Some of the children that join may also be looking to regain a sense of power or honour or even revenge for the loss of a loved one. As weapons get smaller and lighter, it gets easier for children to be made into fighters.

For all the children who become soldiers, their lives are likely to be filled with trauma and abuse. Many will end up with little food and be exposed to drug taking. Violence will become a part of their daily lives as they see and do horrific things and are trained to kill.