ANALYSIS OF FACTORS INFLUENCING THE RECRUITMENT OF CHILDREN INTO THE MILITARY

1.0 Introduction

            Presently, a different phenomenon of combat has emerged; one that is the direct opposite of the technical revolution in the military affairs additionally, this phenomenon does not reflect a formal doctrine used during warfare. As such, to be relevant to this case this phenomenon prescribes the circumstances and methods deployed in the employment of children as soldiers during warfare. Most importantly, “child soldiers” can be defined as persons aged less than 18 years taking part in deadly violence as members of a particular armed force. Therefore, child soldiers make up units of fighters that represent the real situation of present-day warfare. It is documented that children carry out soldier duties in over 80 per cent armed conflicts around the world. It is impossible to argue against the fact that American troops have seen the realities of modern warfare by finding the enemy in the battle is a child armed with an AK-47[1].

            To further add on that, the issue of children being employed as soldiers in warfare has been covered and documented selectively by American security studies. For that reason, most of the documented literature available concerning the events of war is not courtesy of the personnel in the battle field for instance, military organization rather from advocacy groups complemented by pediatric medical reports. This trend is worrisome most notably due to the lack of doctrines primarily developed to handle the challenges and shortcomings brought up by child soldiers to the deployed units in the battle field[2]. Correspondingly, the reasons behind this omission are unclear. However, it is speculated this situation might be occasioned by the fact that the subject of child soldiers is considered to be very peripheral or rather way too sensitive thus curtailing the efforts of proper consideration. To further add on that, it might be because it is quite impossible for one to provide full coverage that requires passionate approach on a topic that tugs at peoples heart strings. Hence, the failure to fully document and compile adequate literature on the issue concerning the use of child soldiers in warfare represents the gap mentioned above that needs immediate coverage. In consequence, this essay aims at analyzing the reasons why children are used for military endeavors in the current century as well as the setup of the United States law in relations to the employment of child soldiers.

2.0 Reasons why children are used in military endeavors

The following are the commonly identifiable reasons as to why the children are commonly recruited into force in the United State.

2.1 Perceived pseudo-benefits drawn from military use of children

It is divided into two as follows.

2.1.1 Ease of control

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