Child soldiers - Research Paper Example

This paper looks into the causes behind using children in warfare, as well as the various brutal techniques employed by the authorities to recruit or make use of them (War Child; UNICEF). First of all, the reason why children are being used in war is because of the increasing trend in the prevalence of HIV/AIDs. As more and more years go by, the number of adults dying from this disease causes majority of the children to lose at least one or both of their parents. This happens mostly in countries hardest hit by HIV/AIDs.

Consequently, there are millions of orphans in these countries with only a few options available for survival. The situation is made worse by the fact that only a few of these countries contain orphanages. Moreover, numerous of these orphans have watched their parents die right before their eyes, and have thus been driven to fend for themselves. As a result, these orphans think that they have nothing more to lose by participating in war (Singer, Peter W 42). In addition to this is the continuous prevalence of global conflict.

The number of internal conflicts going on the world today has approximately doubled ever since the Cold War ended. In such violent environments, children have grown up surrounded by bloodshed and have accepted it as a ‘permanent way of life’. Such children are always seen as potential soldiers. Besides seeing all the violence and fighting around them, many children are not provided with life’s basic necessities (education, health care, adequate housing, food, and water). This is especially true for those children who grow up in the middle of war.

This is because such environments make it impossible for communities to provide its children with proper care and education. Thus, the weak social structures of such places cause children to turn towards war as a means of escaping these problems (Singer, Peter W 43). Besides this, the manufacture of light weapons contributes to the prevalence,