How Old To Fight?

The Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers defines a child soldier as “any person below 18 years of age who is, or who has been, recruited or used by an armed force or armed group in any capacity, including but not limited to children, boys and girls, used as fighters, cooks, porters, messengers, spies or for sexual purposes. It does not only refer to a child who is taking or has taken a direct part in hostilities.” Child soldiers have seen use in most armed conflicts and almost every region of the world since 2000. The exact number of child soldiers is difficult to determine, but there are undoubtedly thousands participating in major conflicts today.

Child soldiers see use for numerous reasons. A child is easy to condition and indoctrinate, and will often implicitly follow orders- even suicidal ones on the front lines as cannon fodder. They require less food than an adult and, in the rare event they are paid, can be paid less than an adult. In conflict-affected regions, there is a constant supply of children to be recruited. A common tactic used when recruiting child soldiers is to have them kill or maim a family member as a sort of initiation, thus severing their ties to home and trapping them. These children are often subjected to the influence of drugs and alcohol, the effects of which leave severe mental and emotional scars and require years of rehab for proper reintegration back into society. According to the United Nations, in the last 2 years, 20 states(used here meaning autonomous governing bodies) have reported the use of child soldiers, and there are still 40 states that have minimum military age requirements below the age of 18. The United States is a part of the latter number for atypical reasons, but these beg just as many questions.

Americans can join the army at 17 because the United States refused to sign and ratify the United Nation's Convention on the Rights of the Child which would, among other things, prohibit anyone under the age of 18 from serving in any military capacity. The United States and Somalia are the only members of the United Nations to have not ratified the convention (making them essentially the only nations in the entire world to have not ratified this convention). It should be noted that as of November 2013, Somalia has recommitted itself to ratifying the convention and has put forth a bill ratifying it, leaving the United States as the sole country of the 193-member strong United Nations to have no plans to ratify this convention. American opponents of the convention argued that while the treaty ostensibly protects human rights, it would infringe upon domestic policy-making and US ability to protect individual rights. While neither President Clinton nor President Bush submitted the convention to the Senate, President Obama has expressed plans to do so. Also of note, the United States has agreed to provide military aid to Chad, Yemen and South Sudan, three countries widely known for their use of child soldiers. This runs contrary to the Child Soldiers Prevention Act of 2008 which prevents the US from providing military assistance to any country that has an armed force that uses and recruits child soldiers.  

Ultimately, the Convention on the Rights of the Child must get ratified and take effect. This convention doesn't just prohibit the use of child soldiers; it would also give children the freedom to decide what and how they learn. It would also give them freedom of privacy and freedom from exploitation from any party, including their parents (this erosion of parent's rights is a large part of the umbrage lawmakers are taking with this bill). The way things work now, we have our children going off on tours of duty but when they get back they can't even get  a drink at a bar. Things have to change.