A Heavy Weight For Small Hands

By Morgan Bessette

A Brief History of Child Soldiers

Sparta• Spartans were well

known for recruiting boys at a young age

• Children subject to violence and cruelty daily

The U.S.• Children in the Civil War

were recruited to be drummer boys in battle

• Aged 9 to 10 years old• Many severely injured

or killed

During WWI and WWII• Boys younger than 18 would be encouraged to enlist

in their nation’s army and used to dig trenches and fight in battles

• Hitler Jugend (Hitler Youth) recruited from 1923 to 1940

Globally…• Colombia• Myanmar (Southeast Asia)• Afghanistan

The Child Soldiers of Africa

Recruitment• Abduction• Appeal

A Few Countries…• Algeria (P,O)• Angola (G,O)• Burundi (G,O)• Chad (G)• Republic of Congo (G,O)• Dem. Rep. of the Congo

(G,O)

•Eritrea (G)•Ethiopia (G)•Rwanda (G,O)•Sierra Leone (G,P,O)•Somalia (all groups)•Sudan (G,P,O)•Uganda (G,O)

KeyG: government armed forcesP: paramilitariesO: armed opposition groups

• Well Known military groups who use Child Soldiers:– The LRA (lord’s resistance army)– The RUF (revolutionary united front in Sierra Leone,

well known for violent tactics)– The Burundese Military– SLA (Sudanese Liberation Army in uganda)– A “youth militia” called the National Youth Service

(Zimbabwe)

Treatment of Child Soldiers• Once abducted, the child usually goes

through a sick “initiation process”• Harsh living conditions• Forcibly given drugs and alcohol• Girls have a high risk of being

raped, sexually harassed, and/or abused

• Subject to beatings, punishments, and humiliation

Duties in the Army• Fight on the front line during combat• Lay or scout for mines and explosives• Act as spies

Continued…• Servants (girls often used

as military “wives”)• Guard the base camp • Used as “human shields”

by higher-ranking members of the army

The Testimony of a Child Soldier

“Future”

“Being Lead at Gunpoint” “Cutting Hand”

Current Support Groups

• The Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers• Amnesty International• Unicef• All actively fund DDR programs (disarmament,

demobilization, and reintegration)

A New Solution1. DONATE • People need to personally get involved with

giving donations or pledges to pre-existing support groups (as mentioned earlier)

• This can help the organizations to provide more assistance to child soldiers

Continued…2. CRACK DOWN• Harsher consequences need to be

implemented upon offenders• Countries that import essential goods into

specific territories in Africa needs to be cut off

• This method has been proven successful in the past

To Find Out More Information, Visit…• Amnesty international• Save the Children• Global Use of Child Soldiers• Invisible Children (film documentary of children in

the LRA)