War. Sometimes considered a necessary evil, but should it really cost the lives of thousands of innocent children? There are currently an estimated 300,000 children fighting in wars in Africa, Sudan, Afghanistan and countless other countries. Typically between 14 and 18 children are recruited or abducted, but some are captured as young as 11 years old. A child soldier is defined as “any child, boy or girl, under the age of eighteen years, who is a member of any type of regular group or irregular armed force or armed group in any capacity” (Kaplan). Although child soldiers are been used to aid in combat, in cases such as Hitler's youth group or squires training to become knights in the 15th century, there is greater concern about their use now, considering they are being thrown onto the front lines instead of being prepare at a young age to fight when they are more mature. Warfare nowadays is much more advanced and military leaders are giving children more lethal weapons and subjecting them to gruesome violence, all to save money and have more men fighting under them. Child soldiers are used in war for many jobs and because of their naive tendencies, easy handling, and the fact that they are cheap and plentiful. Child soldiers can be used for many jobs. They don't receive much training, but their main goal is to be sent to the front lines. “They can fight on the front lines, participate in suicide missions and act as spies, messengers or lookouts” (child soldiers). Children may also carry heavy loads of ammunition and wounded soldiers or be cooks and guards in peacetime. They are useful because "they can fight in the army for over 20 years before being released" (11 Reasons Why Children Become Soldiers) and they create a lot of chaos... middle of paper... and 69% of males he said yes. Finally, when asked if they would kill someone to protect their family, 85% of females said yes and 100% of males said yes. .hrw.org/topic/childrens-rights/child-soldiers http://childrenandarmedconflect.un.org/effects-of-conflect/root-causes-of-child-soldiering/ http://www.warchild.org. uk/about https://www.dosomething.org/tipsandtools/why-countries-have-child-soldiers http://www.child-soldiers.org/faq.php http://www.bbc.co.uk /worldservice/people/features/childrensrights/childrenofconflect/soldier.shtml http://www.cfr.org/human-rights/child-soldiers-around-world/p9331#p2 http://www.unicef.org/sowc96 /2csoldrs.htmhttp://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/C157333FCA91F573C1256C130033E448-chilsold.htm