Child soldier facts for kids
A child soldier is a child that takes part to actively fight in a war. There is no official definition. The Coalition to stop the use of Child Soldiers says that no one less than 18 years old should be recruited by regular or auxiliary troops. The age limit of 18 years is taken from the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
UNICEF, terre des hommes and Amnesty International see all the combatants and their helpers that are below 18 years of age as child soldiers.
There is a problem, however. If such children were classified as combatants, this would permit them to fight in wars. On the other hand, if such children were captured, they would then have to be treated according to the Geneva Convention as prisoners of war.
The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court says that recruiting people below the age of 15 is a war crime, and must be prosecuted.
According to an UN source, 300.000 children were actively participating in armed conflicts, in 1996.
Images for kids
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Children of the Omo Valley in Ethiopia
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A group of demobilized child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
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Rebel Salvadoran soldier boy combatant in Perquin, El Salvador, 1990, during the Salvadoran Civil War
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An Iranian child soldier after the Liberation of Khorramshahr
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Symbolic Syrian boy soldiers, fans of the Syrian Army
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Young Khmer Rouge fighters
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The brave Righetto (1851). Replica of the Giovanni Strazza statue in the lobby of the grand staircase in Palazzo Litta. It portrays a 12-year-old child who died with his dog in 1849 while trying to stop a bomb during the defence of the Roman Republic in 1849.
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Children from age 16 in the British Army, on parade at the Army Foundation College, Harrogate, UK
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Red Hand Day, the International Day Against Use of Child Soldiers, is often marked by displaying red handprints.
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A United States Army sergeant drills high school students at Jackson High School in Georgia, US
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See also
In Spanish: Niños soldado para niños
