Child soldiering and its violence to children and humanity: The african experience

Abstract

Wars have taken a sharp turn in our era such that the human face in war engagements is often opaqued because of the eclipse of reason, the objectification of humans, and the desire to emerge victorious at all costs. These have paved the way for unrestricted atrocities in our war history and metastasized in the abuse of children who are recruited as soldiers. This mindset is largely pursued when technologically advanced countries spend more resources in the procurement and storage of weapon systems that have unimaginable destructive powers. There is the likelihood that these weapons may be unleashed in times of war where both the attacking forces and the opposition forces battle desperately for victory at all costs. The less technologically advanced countries and militant groups have also imbibed such eclipse of moral consciousness in their desperate desire to win a war. This approach to warfare, unfortunately, has been further exploited by a huge increase in child soldiering, which is fast becoming a common phenomenon in arms conflicts and wars. In as much as war is an evil that must be avoided at all costs, child soldiering further exacerbates the intolerable situation and must be stopped. Children below the ages of 18 years are often coerced, enticed with material rewards, abducted, and indoctrinated to fight in wars and even play adult roles in some cases. Children have risen from scout roles in wars to handling major lethal hardware made possible by modern technological modifications. Recent data implicate about 25 countries where children who are below 16 years of age were recruited and fought in wars. Some African countries are guilty of child soldiering ; countries such as Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, South Sudan, and Central African Republic are implicated in this crime. This chapter studies child soldiering in Africa to highlight its violence to children and our humanity, our generation, and future generations. The negative impacts to these children's physical and psychological wellbeing are enormous. This chapter promotes stringent measures to stop this gruesome abuse and discusses approaches toward recovery and rehabilitation. A Short AbstractWars have taken a sharp turn in our era such that the human face in war engagements is often opaqued because of the eclipse of reason, the objectification of humans, and the desire to emerge victorious at all costs. These have paved the way for unrestricted atrocities in our war history and metastasized in the abuse of children who are recruited as child soldiers. This mindset is largely pursued when technologically advanced countries spend more resources in the procurement and storage of weapon systems that have unimaginable destructive powers. Recent data implicate about 25 countries where children who are below 16 years of age were recruited and fought in wars. Some African countries are guilty of child soldiering, and this chapter studies child soldiering in Africa to highlight its violence to children and our humanity, our generation, and future generations. This chapter discusses the negative physical and psychological impacts child soldiering have on children, promotes stringent measures to stop the gruesome abuse, and discusses approaches toward recovery and rehabilitation.