Introduction to Potential Solutions
Child soldiery is a plague that must be ended. Solutions to this are providing services to ex-child soldiers in order to prevent re-enlistment, ending economic sanctions, confronting the leaders of countries that use child soldiers, allowing more options for a child to leave an army, giving clear instruction on what would happen to child soldiers after they desert and become refugees, as well as keeping schools open and giving more occupational opportunities for parents.
Preventing the Recruitment of Child Soldiers: Stop Economic Sanctions
On the topic of solutions, for most problems, prevention is the biggest solution of all. If the recruitment of new child soldiers can be completely eradicated, then the concept will die out. For starters, a method which could be used to prevent recruitment is simply discontinuing economic sanctions against certain countries. More often than not, the parents of children (and children themselves) are more affected than those who the sanction was actually meant for, resulting in desperate parents and children. (McClelland). Organizations could “bait” children into their army with promises of a better living standard.
Prevent Reenlistment by Giving Social Assistance to ex-Child Soldiers
Next, services should be available to ex-child soldiers to allow smoother reintegration into society, in order to prevent re-enlistment. Furthermore, children that have managed to desert often end up returning because of the difficulty of assimilating back into the normal state of society (Miller). In order to prevent children from returning to their occupation as a child soldier, they need to feel welcomed into their new society.
Prevent enlistment of Children from Poorer Areas
In addition, on a broader basis, taliban forces often recruit children from places called madrasas, which are essentially schools for poorer students (Miller). If better infrastructure were in place in order to allow parents to be able to move their children away from such areas, there would be a decent reduction in the amount of child soldiers recruited. Areas where children are commonly neglected and/or are more “willing” to join organizations are prime hotspots for recruitment.
Stop the Use of Child Soldiers by Confronting the Leaders of Specific Countries
Third, a new form of solution may be simply going straightforward to the head of countries that use child soldiers. A big example of this would be the African country Chad, in which they signed an action plan with the U.N and was officially removed from the U.N’s list of child recruiters (“A Year of Progress for Children not Soldiers”). Obviously, this would be a largely daunting task, due to having to negotiate with countries on a country-by-country basis. However, this shows that it can be done and that it is not farfetched. Further, another African country, the Democratic Republic of Congo, also signed an action plan with the U.N. As shown in a recent report, they have also made significant headway to their goals (AMB. Pressman at UN Debate on Children and Armed Conflict). To add, efforts of solution via this method are already being made, and compromises are being negotiated. Political, technical, and financial support are being given to countries that face challenges as a result of the implementation of an action plan (“A Year of Progress for Children not Soldiers”).
Provide Occupations for Parents in order to Prevent Voluntary Enlistment
On another note, keeping schools open and giving parents more options for occupations would definitely reduce the amount of child soldiers (McClelland). Children would be less likely to join an army due to their living standards, and parents wouldn’t be forced into a situation where they would need to give up their children in order to survive. In this situation, there would be less voluntary enlistment.
Find more Options for Children to Leave their Associated Army
Equally important, getting a child out of an army can be more difficult. Often, desertion is the only option (Miller). By the time children realize what they’re getting into when they join an army, it’s too late. If children had more options that weren’t so risky, they would be more likely to leave armies, resulting in less child soldiers overall.
Solving the Problem of What Happens to Children when they are Freed
Moreover, there are difficulties in where a child goes after they are freed from the army they’re tied to. After a child is freed from an army, many efforts must be made in order to provide a viable result for the child. As an example, even though a child may be freed from the army he or she is tied to, the problem of where the child will end up still exists. A child could be returned to his or hers original place of citizenship, integrated into a local society, or simply resettled into a third country (Bruce). These are all viable solutions, but one of them must be picked in order for the welfare of the child to be upheld, at the very least allowing better welfare than when the child was in an army, in order to allow a more tempting reason for children to take the risk and desert.
Provide Psychological Assistance to ex-Child Soldiers
Next, ex-child soldiers may carry the brutality they’ve experienced into adulthood, and pass this onto their children (Bruce). If the children of the ex-child soldiers are enabled into such a culturally violent environment, they may be more likely to join organizations that promote child warfare.