Erica P. Rodriguez Rhetoric August 12, 2002 Child Soldiers: Scarred for Life by the Wrath of War           In the course of man's ongoing destruction, children have repeatedly fallen victim to acts of violence, cruelty, and exploitation within their environment. Many countries have attempted to protect their youth from any sort of danger, yet there are a few countries that have literally placed their youth in harm's way. One issue that has recently caused global uproar is the recruitment of children to participate in warfare. Various regions in the Middle East, Africa, and Central America have made the enlistment of child soldiers appear normal in their societies, but many are utterly disgusted and in opposition to this custom. "Killing or maiming a child destroys the family," says Teru Morton, a psychologist who worked in Sarajevo; "it breaks the soul and strikes at the heart of society" (qtd. in Ricchiardi 17). The practice of recruiting children for warfare places youth on dangerous grounds where physical and mental anguish are repeatedly endured. They lose the opportunity of enjoying childhood and are forced to mature quickly because of the exposure to violence, abuse, and hostility. By constantly living with the dangers of their environment, children have no choice but to fend for themselves while facing deadly situations.           "The Boys of War" estimates there are more than three hundred thousand children currently involved in more than thirty-five world conflicts while serving a government or rebel force. Countries that use child soldiers are found in the Americas, Europe, and the Middle East, but the problem is most critical in Asia and Africa. Even though the majority of child soldiers are in their teens, there are children as young as seven who are participating in armed conflicts. Some children are persuaded to join a force by the lure of handling weapons or wanting to avenge wrongdoings inflicted upon them ("The Boys of War" 2). According to Lisa Hughes, some military leaders have argued that children join their militia for reasons of nobility, generally involving vengeance for family members. " The boys made their own decisions to bring honor to their families, to their parents that had been killed," commented a member of the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (qtd. in Hughes 399).           Child soldiers who are forced against their will to fight and commit atrocities are left with horrific memories as they grow older. A fifteen-year-old boy, who goes by the initials M.G., recollects the first time he killed a person when he was ten years old. M.G. was kidnapped by soldiers from the Revolutionary United Front of Sierra Leone on his way to school, and was made to join the rebel group. Being faced with a life or death situation, M.G. was forced by a commander to kill ten civilians, and has been haunted with the memory ever since. "I see them dead all around me. I'm very afraid. I have very bad dreams," said M.G. who was rescued by a humanitarian organization (qtd. in "The Boys of War" 1). A number of rebel groups in Cambodia and Mozambique turn children into ruthless soldiers through brief periods of terror and physical abuse, basically conditioning them to violence ("Children as Soldiers"). Boys, however, are not the only ones who are being abducted; according to Dyan Mazurana and Susan McKay, young girls who are captured are forced into wartime services and are treated as sexual property. In Uganda and Sierra Leone, girls are distributed as wives to high-ranking officers and to well-recognized soldiers. A fourteen-year-old girl who was abducted by the Lord's Resistance Army  (LRA) and forced to be a soldier's wife said, "We were distributed to men. . . . girls who refused to become L.R.A. wives were killed in front of us to serve as a warning," (qtd. in Mazurana and McKay 32).           According to The Boys of War, changes in war tactics have led to an increase in the number of child soldiers since they are seen as conveniences for military forces. Child soldiers in a few instances will be suitable to a militia's artillery, becoming suicide bombers, human shields, or booby traps. Girls under ten years of age in Sri Lanka are often used as suicide bombers because of their small build and gender which makes them appear less suspicious (Mazurana and McKay 34). Mirta Lourenco, a specialist with the Culture of Peace Unit, says, "Weapons are now light enough to be used, and simple enough to be stripped and reassembled by a child of ten" (qtd. in "Not Child's Play"). Rory Mungoven, coordinator of the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, comments on how children are considered obedient, impressionable soldiers, easily brainwashed into committing extreme violence (qtd. in "The Boys of War" 2). During the deadliest combat missions, armies often use child soldiers as a way to clear an area. "They'll put the child soldiers in the front lines to test the ground, to clear the area of land mines," said Rachel Stohl of the Center for Defense Information in Washington, D.C. (qtd. in "The Boys of War" 2).           The factors that push children to join an armed force are in some cases a necessity. According to Daya Somasundaram, less fortunate families in Sri Lanka who live without income, jobs, and food may encourage one of their children to join an armed force, so they can at least receive some sort of contribution from the army. Armed forces, in some cases, deliberately deprive villages of food in order to force starving children into their army, which is a tactic used by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. " I joined because my parents lacked food and I had no school," one child told the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers (Mazurana and McKay 32). War torn areas experience higher occurrences of malnutrition and ill health because of scarce healthcare facilities. Disruption of schools and restrictions placed by the Sinhalese governments in Sri Lanka have discouraged children from furthering opportunities involving education, sports, earning foreign scholarships, or jobs within the region. Deprivation in Sri Lanka motivates children to take up arms so that a slight improvement can be made on their present lives as well as their future (Somasundaram 1269). Children are traumatized in northeast Sri Lanka by a civil war in the region for almost two decades. Children are targeted during checking or search operations by security forces, and are interrogated, tortured, executed, or raped while detained. To end these illegal searches and seizures, children join militants or flee the country. Children who are excessively exposed to war trauma, experience psychological disturbances, and are in need of protection, may be motivated to become child soldiers (Somasundaram 1269).           For religious or personal causes, parents in a number of regions encourage their own children to participate in warfare. Reporter Stephan Thorne of the Canadian Press interviewed Abdul Rehman of Afghanistan who is a father of five, and would willingly sacrifice his own sons to fight against the Taliban forces. Rehman said of his oldest son, " If he fights for Islam, I would like that he became a soldier. I would allow it" (qtd. in Thorne). A Kosovo Albanian refugee father gave his daughter to the Kosovo Liberation Army after she was raped; he says, "She can do to the Serbs what they have done to us. She will probably be killed, but that would be for the best. She would have no future anyway after what they did to her" (qtd. in Mazurana and McKay 32). In Colombia and Cambodia, parents often give their daughters to armed service as a form of tax (Mazurana and McKay 32).           Countries that allow children to play a part in their unresolved conflicts are only adding to the dangers youth are exposed to. These soldiers are still children and are at a stage of vulnerability. Their minds and consciences will forever be scarred with the horrifying memories of inflicting violent acts upon others, whether done by choice or by force.  Should children be made to suffer emotional and psychological disturbances while serving under or falling victim to a militia at such a young age? "International law has become clear," says Jo Becker, chair of the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers; "the age of eighteen is the dividing line between childhood and adulthood" (qtd. in Hey 2). It is disturbing to know this custom is considered normal in a number of foreign regions and that they presently continue frequent recruiting of child soldiers. Children who live in poor, unfortunate conditions should not have to seek the help of a militia or rebel group; instead, their own governments should provide assistance. Sources Cited "Children as Soldiers." 21 July 2002 <http://www.globalmarch.org/childsoldier/unicef2.htm>. "The Boys of War." Current Events 15 Mar 2002: 1-3. Hey, Robert P. "More Children Going Straight from Playpen to Front Line." Christian Science           Monitor 13 July 2001: 2. Hughes, Lisa. "Can International Law Protect Child Soldiers?" Peace Review 12.3 (Sept.           2000): 399. Mazurana, Dyan, and Susan McKay. "Child Soldiers: What about the Girls?" Bulletin of the           Atomic Scientists 57.5 (Sept./Oct. 2001): 30. "Not Child's Play." UNESCO Sources. Feb. 2000: 22. Ricchiardi, Sherry. "Children of War." Quill 84.7 (Sept. 1996): 17-21. Somasundaram, Daya. "Child Soldiers: Understanding the Context." British Medical Journal           324.7348 (25 May 2002): 1268-1272. Thorne, Stephen. " Afghan Child Soldiers Know about War; Little Else, Education a Distant           Hope." Canadian Press 1 Mar. 2002.