Child Soldiers In War

There are tens of thousands of underage soldiers across the globe participating in combats who were either coerced into battle by being brainwashed and drugged, kidnapped by armed groups and forced into frontline battle, or felt hopeless  and turned to an army base for protection they never received.  The articles "Children at War" by P.W Singer, "Armed & Underage" by Jeffrey Gettleman and a video about the civil war in Sierra Leone all tell about the experiences of child soldiers; the harsh conditions and the physical and emotion abuse that they endure. In actuality, child soldiers are war victims, even if they do commit abhorrent crimes that would otherwise be shocking.
It is not necessarily the child's own fault when they end up in the army. When Ismael Beah, a former child soldier was only 13, he turned to an army base after his entire family was killed. He stated, "I thought i would be protected in the military base but that wasn't the case." Beah probably felt as if his case was hopeless and turned to an army base for help that was never delivered. Many children that go through hard times end up turning to an army. In Armed & Underage, it mentions that, "According to the United Nations, children are most likely to become soldiers when they are impoverished or separated from their families. In some countries, poverty and hunger drive parents to sell their children to the service."   Also, in the article Children at War, a young boy told a story where he was only in primary school and rebels attacked, killing his mother and father in front of his eyes and taking him with them at the young age of 10 years old. It was never this child's choice to fight, but being so young, he was almost helpless to the situation and was forced into frontline combat regardless of his age.
Children suffer both physical and emotional corruption as combatants. While in combat, many drugs and narcotics are used to manipulate children into believing that killing is okay. Ishmael Beah was "armed with an AK-47, drugged, and taught to kill." Beah became addicted to the drugs and the powerful feeling the intoxication granted him. Drugs such as amphetamines, cocaine and marijuana were given to the soldiers by commanders and the soldiers often used to the drugs to escape from the pain of killing. In the article Armed & Underage, Beah recalls that "Killing became as easy as drinking water."  Because of drugs and manipulation, the children lost themselves in the war. Beah states himself that "The only way a child can function in this particular world is if he loses himself completely and facilities are not in play. If you are fully functioning you are able to show emotion and cannot live in that world." The drugs caused the children to 'lose function', so it was as if they were corrupted and brainwashed into a mindset that made them able to kill. Many girls are also sexually abused, even by their own commanders which causes them to lose trust in adults. Because of the trauma and manipulation, children have a hard time blending back into society when combat is over. They were so Being dumped into a war creates mental and traumatic problems long after the fighting has ended. Ishmael Beah describes such horrendous images, such as him seeing blood in running water and having dreams of war. He said, "I had to withdraw from the drugs and face the memories." In the article Children at War, it says that "Many suffer long term trauma that can disrupt their development."
The use of children in war has become so widespread. United Nations predicts that it could continue for year and children will have to continue to suffer abuse and corruption. The question for the future is; how will society put and end to this?