Child Soldiers

War and conflict are tragic components to a state's history, but more tragic is the current global use of more than 300, 000 children in combat. Recruitment of children is often achieved through coercive means, although some enlist voluntarily. Many of the children are forced to either join or die, and girls bear the dual burden of being recruited as soldiers and sex slaves. Although the 2000 Optional Protocol on the Coventions on the Rights of the Child prohibits the enlistment of any person under 18 in combat services, many state and non-state actors have continued to ignore this international law. There are also countries like America who have refused to signed the protocol because they enlist adoloscents under 18 through ROTC programs. It is saddening that such a hegemonic power as the United States has undermined such a an important interntional law. The US should show support for the protocol by ratifying it. Moreover, the international community has to take a more proactive stance in punishing those who continue to conscript children into their armies despite being signatories to the convention. The protocol will not be an effective means to protect children from war as long as it is not enforced.