Issue: Child Soldiers

Issue: Child Soldiers
Philosophy 1301 w/ Colby Glass

Facts from Human Rights Watch about child soldiers:

As many as 300,000 children are currently serving in government or rebel forces. Some are as young as eight years old.
Child soldiers have been reported in 33 on-going or recent armed conflicts in every region of the world.
Technological advances in weaponry have contributed to the increased use of children as soldiers. Lightweight automatic weapons are simple to operate and light enough for children.
Orphans, refugees, and the poor are most vulnerable to recruitment.
In countries like Afghanistan and Sudan where education is rare, children are lured into armies by promises of education.
Both girls and boys are used as child soldiers. In case studies in El Salvadore, Ethiopia, and Uganda, almost a third of the child soldiers were reported to be girls. Girls may be raped, or in some cases, given to military commanders as "wives."
It is not uncommon to send children in to minefields ahead of older soldiers.
Children have been forced to commit atrocities... that stigmatize them and ensure that they cannot return to their homes.
The most common physical injuries that child soldiers suffer are loss of hearing, loss of limbs, and blindness.
No peace treaty to date has recognized the existence of child soldiers, or made provisions for their rehabilitation and reintegration into society.

For more information, start at the following site:

Please send comments to: Colby Glass, MLIS