Children in many countries are being forced into torment by adults and older child soldiers, to fight in their countries 
wars. They are kidnapped as young as seven years old and put through rigorous training that no child should go through. Why would they do this to children and are they being saved? Fortunately, some countries are implementing laws that will no longer allow children to be put through this.
There are many countries that are taking part in this: Afghanistan, India, Thailand, Yemen, Central African Republic, Congo, Libya, Syria, Turkey and many more (It’s Immoral). But first, who are these child soldiers? They “are children who are used for any military purpose… They are not only boys – many are girls. Some child soldiers are used for fighting – to kill and commit other acts of violence. Others are used as cooks, porters, messengers, informants or spies” and even sexual purposed (It’s Immoral).
They fight in the front lines, where most of the danger happens to be, and many are forced to “participate in suicide missions or lookouts. Girls may be forced into sexual slavery” (Child). Again, they are forced from their families as young as seven and some have no other way and “join out of desperation” (Child).
Children are easy to abduct, easily manipulated, and can carry lightweight weapons that require almost no physical or technical expertise – this is why children are used in these wars. This is why they are recruited/kidnapped from their families.
However, there are laws being implemented, but are obviously not enough. “The standard was raised by the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, also known as OPAC (2000) OPAC was the world’s first international treaty wholly focused on ending the military exploitation of children” (It’s Immoral). While this has been helping, the issue has still been continuing.
“It is estimated that 250,000 children are fighting in wars all over the world” (peace direct). And that is just an estimation; there are probably more. What can be done though to prevent this? You can support trained and trusted local activists; support ex-combatants; and advocate through fundraisers, church, and local partners that focus on the key issues (Advocacy).
An example of the issue is in Afghanistan. “After decades of violent conflict, severs poverty and a lack of other opportunities have driven children into the fighting on all sides” and “numerous militias and armed groups operate, most of whom are known to use children in some capacity” (It’s Immoral). This is not only in Afghanistan; many other countries have more severe ties with children in their wars.
Learning about these child soldiers is the first step in helping them. They go through rigorous training every day, are fed menial food, just to die the next day in a war they have no control over. You can help by supporting the activists surrounding these issues, writing to your government, taking part in advocacy to spread this issue to others, and donate to official activist’s organizations, like child-soliders.org.
References
“Advocacy.” Peace Direct, www.peacedirect.org/us/what-we-do/advocacy/.
“Child Soldiers.” Human Rights Watch, www.hrw.org/topic/childrens-rights/child-soldiers.
“It’s Immoral for Adults to Use Children in War.” Child Soldiers International, www.child-soldiers.org/.
