Child Soldiers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Child Soldiers - Essay Example A growing phenomenon around the world is respect for international law. These are principle that nations agree to abide by. One growth area in this part of law and one issue that is highly contentious is the use of child soldiers in conflicts. This has been especially happening over the last twenty years. Some suggest there are nearly half a million child soldiers active in the majority of the world’s continuing conflicts. Using children to fight wars is not only morally abhorrent, but very bad very the physical and mental health of the children in question. That is in part why a series of international laws and treaties have come into effect to try to deal with this scourge. But the issue is more complicated than that. While child soldiers are victims of war crimes, they too can also perpetrate serious breaches of the law of armed conflict. Under normal circumstances, individuals who commit such acts, be they combatants or not, would be vulnerable to prosecution. However, bec ause children in such situations are victims as well as perpetrators and because of the special protections afforded to children under international law, many have questioned whether or not children can be prosecuted for these egregious violations of the law of armed conflict. But a larger question is are states being prevented from using child soldiers by international law? Are the laws robust enough to prevent this situation from occurring in the future? The answer must sadly be no. Countries in Africa remain the worst offenders in terms of employing girls and boys to do fighting. Often they are drugged and abused. They live for the rest of their lives with the knowledge of their crimes. The world is changing. International law is increasing its purview. But the scourge of child soldiers remains. We must take more steps to combat this.