draft one the letter - child soldiers

Dear UNICEF,

My name is Shamma Al-Balushi and I'm 14 years old, I go to The American International School Of Muscat, I am writing to you because I have recently been learning and discussing about child soldiers and what should be done to them after the war in my Language Arts class. In my class I learnt that there is an estimated 300,000 children under the age of eighteen who are serving as child soldiers. I searched up your website and read through it and found that you have a transit in Colombo, Sri Lanka for child soldiers. This organization could keep innocent lives safe and I think you should aim on making more organizations like this in other places to help the children.

By definition, a child soldier is any person below 18 years of age who are recruited or used by an armed force of in any capacity, including but not limited to children, boys and girls, used as fighters, cooks, porters, messengers, spies, or for sexual purposes. These children, some even as young as 8 years old fight in front lines and participate in suicide missions.

 

In the past ten years, more than two million children have been killed, five million disabled, twelve million left homeless, and ten million psychologically traumatized. These children have witnessed things like physical violence, including executions, death squad killings, disappearances, torture, arrest, sexual abuse, bombings, and forced displacement.

These inoccent children have either been forced to join the army, young kids by the age of 8-15/16 with no say to what's happening. Even if they have hurt, or even worse killed people, they are still very young and don’t think about what they are doing. Children who actually volunteer to be soldiers themselves is because they feel pressure and they are under the concept that volunteering will provide a form of income, food or keeping them safe, and willingly join the group.

Military organization that recruit children find them easier than adults to attract or force into service, in general children are easily manipulated into joining the army this is because they are not mature enough into making their own decisions and depend on their commander. In places like Africa, children soldiers lives are being threatened if they do not kill or hurt people. Some children are targeted by militants to join the army, some even get kidnapped and forced into the military.