Child Soldier Response

Child soldiers are victims for many reasons. For starter’s, child soldiers are drugged. They are also brutally abducted from their families. Most of all child soldiers are victims because they are being enlisted every day to fight in wars all around the world. Child soldiers all around the world are victims being forcefully abducted from their families, drugged, and enlisted in armies.

In the article “Children at War” by P.W. Singer, the author explains how kids are victims by being taken from home to fight. For instance, in the article the author put in quotes from a boy who was abducted. The boy said “I was attending primary school. The rebels came and attacked us. They killed my mother and father in front of my eyes. I was 10 years old. They took me with them.” This shows how child soldiers are victims because they are attacked, their families are killed, and they are taken from their homes, which is not right. The author also puts in that “rebel and government forces alike have abducted some 20,000 Liberian children, forcing them into front line combat.” This fact makes you think about how bad the problem is since the government is even abducting kids from home. Child soldiers are victims because they are brutally forced away from their homes without a say.

Child soldiers are also victims because they are drugged. For instance, in an interview with Katie Couric a man named Ishmael Beah said that the drugs they were given gave them “a sense of invincibility.” Also, in the same interview Ishmael Beah said that “after the initial use of drugs, this became our sense of reality. We lost ourselves completely in this war that it became the only thing we knew.” These examples show that child soldiers are drugged to the point that all they know about is the war. It is almost like they are brainwashed to only know how to fight and kill.

Child soldiers are victims because they are forced to fight in wars all around the world. In the interview with Katie Couric, Ishmael Beah said, “I was with a group of other kids. Naturally, we thought if we went to a military base we would be protected. That turned out not to be the case. We were forcefully recruited.” Also, in the article “Armed and Underage” the author wrote “when Beah was 13, Sierra Leone was embroiled in a civil war. Rebels attacked his village, and Beah was separated from his parents. After spending months wandering through his war-torn country, he was forcibly recruited into Sierra Leone’s army. Beah was armed with an AK-47, drugged, and taught to kill.” These examples show how child soldiers are victims because they are taken and forced to fight with no say in anything.   

As you can see, child soldiers are victims. They are victims because they are abducted from their homes. Child soldiers are also victims because they are drugged to the point of being brainwashed. Finally, child soldiers are victims because they are forced to fight. Child soldiers are not perpetrators. They are victims of war.