Slaves and Soldiers

War. The cold, battle of nations. A big deal in the world. Numerous of wars have happened.

You might be wondering:. I’m not involved in war. Why should I care? The fact is, even though you’re not in a war, just think about the others who are. Some people your age are fighting. You might have a quiet life, going to a good school, and eating every night.

But kids as young as seven, aren’t living the luxurious lifestyle. They’re hungry, and cold. But they are still forced to go to war. They have experienced things that no kid should ever experience. They have seen things that no kid should ever see.

How would you feel, if you were forced to kill your best friend?. Seeing the horror onin their face, before their life is snuffed out forever. Some kids don’t want to go to war. They hide in bushes or other places to prevent being drafted. This is a serious problem.

But the horrible thing is this is a problem we could prevent. Something we could stop. But we don’t. Kids are sent away from their family, traded with no regard to their feelings. The civil militia, the rebel groups, and even the government, are willingly trading children. They don’t have to.

But they do. So how would you feel? Being a bystander, watching a child holding a gun. Forced to shoot. To kill. Out of the ten million refugees, fifty million are children. The children have witnessed slaughter, massacre, and the death of their relatives.

They have seen many horrible things. The war has pushed them out of their homes, and into lands in which they are not welcome. Kids are ripped from their families, and sold to different groups. Then they are turned into slaves and soldiers. Most refugee children who have been sold, will most likely never find their way back home.

The recruitment of child soldiers is a very bad problem in the war. Some want to go to war, they want to shoot people and see the whites of in their enemies’ eyes. But most don’t want to be sent off. They don’t want to see the mangled bodies, lying dead on the ground of the battle field. They don’t want to lose a leg, or an eye. They never asked to be in this position, and forcing them to do something that they never intended to commit to is just plain wrong.

When will people learn that children aren’t something to just move around?. That they aren’t the plaything of man?. Children might be younger than adults, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t human. Sending them off to war, or selling them to be slaves, is just as bad as massacring them. And in some cases, this is what happens. War is one of the most cruel fights in the world.

Bringing kids into warsthem isn’t right. How would you feel if you were them?. A seven year old girl, forced to kill her mother, or turn in her best friend. Do you think they asked for this life style? Shipped away from their families, likely to never see their warm and familiar faces again? The recruitment of child soldiers is indeed a serious problem. One that has to be stopped.

Because if we don’t stand up for these kids, who will? But there is something you can do to help. Maybe not something as big as UNHCR does, but you can still do A lot. You could create a fundraiser in your school, or start a bake sale with your friends to raise money to donate to Unicef or UNHCR. This may not seem like a lot, but it’s still helping. Doing something is a lot better then not doing anything at all.

But your donations could only be as little as twenty dollars. That might not be enough to buy a car, or a toy you like, but it will buy a student kit. You can even persuade people to sign a petition, in order to protest against the recruitment of children to become ing soldiers. Even a little bit of action could benefit the children of war greatly.