Children, the future generation, are being turned into murderers.
In any given population, at least 25% are children- there are 1.9 billion worldwide. Unfortunately however, children are considered the minorities, so they receive the least media coverage, despite having the greater exposure to abuse than adults. Having less media coverage means that the problems faced by children around the world are sidelined and ignored. These abuses can range from domestic violence to child slavery to under-age military recruitment.
In 2003, the number of illegal child soldiers in Somalia and in other parts of Europe participating in armed conflict was at its peak. Wars were raging and tensions were building. For these reasons, the need for manpower increased- not only adults but children as well. The amount of people who believed that children were more valuable soldiers than adults was also like never before. Sadly, those who believed that concept were correct. Children, by nature are more vulnerable, and are thus manipulated more easily than adults. They ask fewer questions, and also attract less unwanted attention to themselves and to their recruiters. Although today, the number of child soldiers have diminished significantly, the after-effects caused by recruiting children clearly, has not.
Well-educated children are the key to having a successful nation. Since children will eventually grow up to be adults and eventually parents, the way that they have been brought up will show through their children. If they had been taught to kill growing up, their children will very likely show that in themselves as well. Therefore, if people turn the children now into killing machines, a poor government and nation is almost sure to follow.
TESTIMONIAL:
"When we arrived the soldiers asked us, 'Would you like to join the army or would you like to go home?' Many of us said we'd like to go home. Then they took the thirty or forty of us who'd said that, stripped us naked, put us in the lockup and gave us just a tiny bit of rice. . . . There were about sixty of us in a room the same size as this one. . . . I don't think any were over eighteen. There were ten children who were just thirteen years old. The youngest was my friend who was eleven. He often cried because he didn't get enough food, and then he was beaten by the guards. I also cried often because I didn't want to join the army. I was beaten twice a day for crying. . . . We couldn't sleep. There were also rats and ants in the room. . . . For a toilet they'd dug a hole in the ground and it had a wooden cover over it. . . . There was a terrible smell. . . . Some of my friends were crying. . . . Two or three boys got sick and died."
-Than Aung, recruited at age fourteen
Sources:
https://www.hrw.org/news/2002/10/15/testimonies-my-gun-was-tall-me-child-soldiers-burma
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